Naruto Farron
by Soulless Reader
Summary: Naruto, an orphan for 12 years, is adopted by Lightning and taken away from the village. Now, years later, he returns to fulfil his dreams, or does he? What does he really want and why has he returned in the first place? And what is this talk about a promise?
1. The Departure

**Hi, people!**

**While you may think this story is just like all those other uncountable "Naruto gets adopted, becomes a God Mode Sue, gets himself a harem and becomes the Hokage" stories, you are _wrong._ While it may resemble them at the start, it is nothing like them. In fact the only thing that fits is the adoption part. There will all sorts of twists and details that set this fic apart from all the others.**

**You'll just have to read on.**

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><p>The DepartureThe Mysterious Savior

_"W-w-who are y-you?"_

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><p>The village of Konoha was peaceful. The sun was just starting dip behind the horizon and people were more than happy. Most of them were returning from parties that had been held all over the village.<p>

It had now been exactly twelve years after the Fourth Hokage gave his life in defeating the rampaging Kyuubi no Kitsune, a demon fox of immense power. His sacrifice had been essential in finally killing the monster, and now he was celebrated as a great hero.

But there was someone who was neither happy nor celebrating. This someone was an orphan boy by the name of Naruto. He was an average sized, blond haired boy, dressed in dirty and torn orange pants and jacket with a white collar, a pair of sandals that barely held themselves together and broken goggles that he kept on his forehead. He had dug all of his clothes from dumpsters when people had no more use for them.

It was his twelfth birthday, but as an orphan he would have no one to celebrate with - no one save for a kind old man named Danzo, who had a restaurant right next to his usual hangout.

Danzo had time and time again tried to offer the boy a place to live, but every time Naruto had declined by saying that he had enough things to take care of without a boy under his wing.

Tonight, Danzo had to leave for a meeting, but had left a bowl of noodles for Naruto to eat while he was away. It pained his heart to leave the boy behind and alone, but he knew Naruto would keep out of trouble like he had done for the past twelve years, barely. The boy was skinny, pale and unhealthy, but refused to give in just like that. He even dreamed of becoming the next Hokage to show everyone that he could do it, that he could rise from the bottom to the very top all on his own.

A noble goal, but doomed to failure.

It saddened Danzo greatly to know that, but he knew he had to stop thinking about it for now. He had a meeting to attend, after all.

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><p>Naruto sat on a stair in front of the restaurant's back door that led to the kitchen, eating his noodles in silence. He knew he should have been happy that at least someone tried to celebrate his birthday, even if that someone couldn't be here with him. It was like this every year, every birthday he had, and just because he had been born on the day of the Kyuubi's attack and had lost his parents that same day.<p>

It wasn't fair.

He had seen other kids of his age play around in the park with their friends and parents. They were all so very happy, with no shred of worry in them, with loving parents taking care of them.

Unlike him.

Naruto was an outcast, just a homeless orphan who had run away from the orphanage at the age of four. That was eight years ago, eight years he had spent on the streets as the only person in the village who didn't have any place or anyone to take care of him. At least Old Man Danzo tried to help him stay alive, but it still wasn't the same. The boy had never seen another orphan or a homeless in his life in the streets; it was like he was the only one in the entire world.

Suddenly, as he was finishing his only meal today, he saw a small group people walk past the alley and stop. They wore green chuunin vests and had headbands tied around their heads, identifying them as ninjas of the village.

They reeked of alcohol, even from this distance.

The obvious drunks saw the blond sitting there and started to walk towards him, drunkenly slurring something between themselves. Naruto dropped his empty bowl and chopsticks, and ran behind the dumpster leaning against wall next to him. He was hoping the drunks would turn around and leave, to do anything other than come his way. He closed his eyes and hugged his knees close to him, silently praying for someone to help.

"Hey, khid," one of the men said when they walked to end of the food dumpster, "Don'th youh know that it'sh wrongh to shteal food from othersh?"

Naruto looked up in panic and tried to crawl into the narrow space behind the dumpster. He tried to tell them the truth, "But I didn't steal anything! I swear! It was a gift! Please!"

"Yeah righteh, like we'dh believe youh," came the answer.

One of them grabbed him by his leg and pulled him back into the open. There were four of them in total, he could see now, and each one of them was drunk as hell. Their breath stank horribly, and Naruto hoped he could cover his nose but was too afraid to move. The men moved closer squeezing their hands into fists, and one of them, a ninja with a short beard and black hair, spoke to him in a menacing tone.

"We're gonnah teach youh some mannersh, boyh."

Another of them, a ninja with weird, white eyes, raised an empty liquor bottle above his head and then smashed it against the dumpster to make a makeshift stabbing weapon, ready to gouge out the poor boy's eyes. A few glass shards hit Naruto, but his only reaction was to cover his face with his arms and wait for the coming beating.

He felt tears starting to form in his eyes. This wasn't how he wanted to spent his day, to be beaten up by a bunch of drunken ninjas. He only wanted to spent his birthday like all the others before this one: Eating the food Old Man gave him and going to sleep in the old, abandoned house he called home. That was what he always did on October tenth, and that was all he wanted to do right now. Why would something like this happen to him? Was he cursed to suffer for his whole life?

"Beating up an innocent kid?" a female voice inquired from above. Naruto didn't look or even try to, he was too petrified to even think of doing so. "Maybe it's _you_ who need to be taught manners!"

Someone landed near him with a soft _thump_, followed quickly by the sounds of beating and falling bodies. He heard men cry out in pain as they tried to face their attacker and were soundly defeated. The broken glass bottle was audibly smashed from its wielder's hand, and a second man was sent crashing hard against the dumpster next to him. The fight hadn't lasted more than a few seconds.

All was quiet.

Naruto slowly lowered his arms to see his rescuer.

It was a woman dressed in a white, sleeveless overcoat with a red cape hanging off near the end of her left shoulder blade, over a brown turtleneck shirt; a long black sleeve over her left arm, knee-high leather boots and a brown mini-skirt. She also had red pack strapped to her left leg and strange black case with something metallic in it hanging behind her. Her hair was long and light pink in color, and was braided over her left shoulder.

"W-w-who are y-you?" the boy stuttered, staring in awe at his savior. "A-are you an a-angel?"

"Hardly," was her reply, her tone even and also a bit cold which surprised Naruto. "What are you doing outdoors this late, kid?"

"I-I'm an orphan."

"I see." The woman looked around, thinking. She seemed to make sure the drunks were out cold. Her clothing and appearance told Naruto she wasn't from around here. She didn't have a headband which ruled out the possibility that she was a foreign ninja. However, she was still a stranger.

"Y-you didn't answer my q-question," said Naruto nervously.

"Call me..." the woman gave him a light smile as she turned to face him again, "Lightning."

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><p>Danzo was happy the meeting hadn't taken any longer than half an hour. Now he could give Naruto something else to eat before he left. Usually the meeting would take at least an hour, and by the time he would get back the boy would have already disappeared, something he had a knack for.<p>

He remembered the day Naruto got his current clothing from dumpsters all over the city. It was quite shocking that the blond kid would refuse to accept his offer to go shopping for new clothes and simply dig them out of trash. He had told him it would let him save the money he would have to use for new ones.

When Danzo got to the alley that led to his restaurant's back door, he froze. He saw the food bowl he'd given Naruto laying upside down on the ground along with the chopsticks. Usually the boy would leave them neatly on the stair when he left. This meant he was in trouble!

With a quick sniff, Danzo smelled the strong stench of alcohol coming from the area. This meant some drunk had to have attacked the boy. Fearing for the worst, Danzo walked further down the alley, his old eyes detecting something at the end of the dumpster.

"Please, let it not be true," he prayed over and over again until he reached the shadow. It was an unconscious ninja, a chuunin who had been violently slammed against the dumpster with enough force to knock him out. Letting out a sigh of relief, Danzo looked around for Naruto.

There was no sign of the boy, however, only three more unconscious ninjas, two chuunins and a jounin. Each of them was beaten up and reeked of alcohol. They had to be the ones Naruto had been trying to escape from, Danzo deduced, but it didn't explain where the boy himself was. He couldn't have done this to grown up men; he couldn't have even survived against one, let alone four experienced ninjas. Someone had helped him out, but who?

"Naruto," the old man whispered into the night as the sun finally vanished behind the horizon, "where are you?"

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><p><strong>And that is the first chapter!<strong>

**You may have noticed the chapter name's interesting design. Every chapter will have a name like that with a relevant quote under it. I think it's interesting.**

**This story takes place after FF13, but ignores all events after the ending. Also the graduation age is upped to 15-16 so everyone is wearing their shippuuden clothes. The Kyuubi was also NOT sealed within Naruto but truly killed. And as you can see Danzo is a good guy, not a power hungry douchebag. I also can't write drunk talk so don't let it bother you if it doesn't match what you'd expect.**

**I hope that I can get as many chapters as possible before 13-2 is released, because then I'll be playing the shit out that game like there's no tomorrow. Chapter 2 is hopefully up in a week or so.**

**Also this story will have NO pairings! OK? Keep that shit out of here, please.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally this story would have started just like every "Angry-Mob-Corners-Naruto" fic.**


	2. The Return

**Wow, first chapter and a dozen favorites and alerts with barely under 300 hits. Never actually thought that would happen. Maybe Naruto fandom really does have low enough fanfic standards. Uh, no offense to anyone, of course.**

**Well, anyways, here's chapter 2.**

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><p>The ReturnThe Boy From Gran Pulse

"_Long time no see, Old Man!_"

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><p>It had been almost four years since Naruto disappeared from the village of Konoha without a trace. Danzo had done his best in trying to find him, but to no avail; the boy was gone.<p>

Unbeknownst to all, in a small clearing maybe a kilometer from Konoha's gates, a crack appeared in the air just above ground level in a blinding flash of light. It glowed brightly and slowly opened up to form a jagged, oval hole large enough for a person to walk through.

A moment passed, then two figures appeared out of the rift.

One was a pink haired woman wearing a brown turtleneck shirt carrying a wrapped up package; the other a boy wearing a white, short sleeved t-shirt and dark blue track pants.

"We're here," said Lightning, looking at the clearing and surrounding trees. The place was just like she remembered it. She turned to Naruto, who was staring at his feet sadly.

"I guess it's goodbye for now, then," he said, turning to stare at her. "I had wished this day would never come."

"I know."

"Well, thanks for everything." Naruto let out a sad sigh as he began to walk away from the dimensional rift to start his journey back to the village he was born in. He had hoped that he would never see it again.

"Naruto!" Lightning yelled, walking after him. "Wait a moment."

The boy in question stopped and turned his head, puzzled. "What is it?"

"Take this with you." She handed over the package. "It's a gift from all of us. Don't open it until you've gotten back to the village, got that?"

A nod was her answer.

Without another word Lightning walked back to the glowing portal that connected the worlds. She was about to step through when Naruto shouted after her.

"Mom! You'll remember our promise, right? Will you be there when the time comes?"

Lightning gave a sincere smile before disappearing into the rift, the portal shutting itself in a show of light flashes and thunderclaps, her last words echoing in Naruto's ears.

"Of course, Naruto."

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><p>"Remind me again, why are we the ones sitting here doing nothing <em>again<em>?"

Kotetsu sighed and groaned loudly. Izumo never seemed to get the idea of guarding the village gates. It was a highly important job and Kotetsu, for one, was proud of being chosen for this task.

"Izumo, for the last time today," he started, turning to his partner. "We should be grateful for this task! This is important."

"Kotetsu, this is not that important of a task! We sit here checking people's papers all day long. Besides, only ninjas use this particular gate!"

"Oh, be quiet!"

"Excuse me, misters."

Both chuunins almost jumped out of their seats in surprise. In their arguing they had failed to notice a teenage boy walk up to their booth. He was wearing a white t-shirt, blue track pants and brown boots. His blond hair was short and spiky. He also carried a package in his arms.

Composing themselves, the chuunins eyed the boy suspiciously. He didn't have a headband nor did he appear to be a ninja or hostile. A civilian perhaps?

"Who are you and what is your business in our village?" asked Izumo, pointing an accusing finger at the stranger. Kotetsu noticed his other hand was inching towards his kunai holder.

"An old citizen of this village returning is all you need to know, mister," replied the boy quite impolitely. "As for business: I'm here to see one Danzo Shimura. I have a package for him." He lifted his arm to emphasize the package. "He has a restaurant in the village, or so I've heard."

"How can we be certain you are not some assassin sent to kill him?" asked Kotetsu, staring at the package. It didn't seem any more suspicious than a merchant's luggage.

"Why would I want to kill an old man? What did he ever do?"

The chuunins exchanged glances at the remark. The boy was being honest about his ignorance and didn't act with any hostility. Maybe he really was here just to deliver a package.

"Well, alright," said Izumo. "You can go, but we _will_ be keeping an eye on you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, pal," the kid said, waving his hand dismissively, and walked away. "Whatever you say."

As soon as they were certain the teen was out of earshot, Izumo spoke angrily. "I can't believe we just got disrespected by a kid! Oh, the nerve! How does he even know Elder Danzo? Should we call an ANBU to tail him?"

"No, I don't think so." Kotetsu shook his head. Somehow he had feeling he knew the boy from somewhere, but where? A picture? Did he pass by him on the streets? Did they use the same market? The same barber? "I believe he won't be any trouble."

They both sat back down on their seats; they still had a job to do.

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><p>Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha, dodging incoming people and avoiding present ninjas who might want to question him. Those chuunins at the gates could have called someone to tail him, for all he knew. He knew instinctively where Danzo's restaurant was, so it wasn't that hard to find the right path for avoiding people. It was late afternoon already, yet the people on the streets didn't appear to decrease in numbers.<p>

In no time he turned a corner to a _very _familiar spot: the back alley where he had been, in a sense, born anew. It hadn't changed at all, much like everything else in the village during his absence. The dumpster was still where it had been next to the stairs that led to the restaurant's back door; the abandoned house he called home was still standing to his left, right across the alley to the restaurant; the wall at the end of the alley was still covered in downright ancient graffiti. Nothing had changed here; it was like the time hadn't moved on at all in his absence.

After looking around for any possible witnesses and thankfully finding none, Naruto knocked on the door once then twice, held a small pause and then banged three times with his fist. It had been his signature knock when he wanted to talk with Old Man Danzo in the past.

He heard whispering from the other side of the door, followed by running, more whispering and then finally footsteps right behind the door. He let himself smile as the door swung open and an old man stood there, staring at him with his one eye, the other hidden by bandages that were wrapped around his forehead and the right side of his face.

"Long time no see, Old Man!" he greeted with small wave.

Danzo blinked and blinked, his mouth opening and closing, eye open in severe shock. "Naruto?" he asked slowly, as if testing the word in his mouth. "Is it really you?"

"You got that right, Old Man!" If possible Naruto's smile only grew in size, only for him to drop it the instant Danzo's hand touched his head, groping his hair and face.

"It truly _is_ you! But how are you here? You disappeared years ago."

"Yes, it's me. Now, stop touching my face, it's creeping me out!"

Danzo withdrew his hand instantly. "Sorry. Please, come in." He stepped back to allow the teen to enter the kitchen. In there he saw two others beside them: a middle aged man in a cook's outfit and about twenty year old waitress. Both were staring at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. Danzo's employees it seemed.

"Would you like something, my boy?" asked Danzo, taking up a menu from a desk next to him. "Anything you'd like?"

"I don't know if I have any money to pay you," said Naruto awkwardly, not used to such offers.

"Nonsense! This one's on the house!" exclaimed the chef to the teen's mild surprise.

"Yes, Danzo has told us much about the time before you vanished!" the waitress explained, radiating kindness and excitement. "This occasion calls for celebration!"

"Well, in that case," Naruto said as he took the offered menu, "I could try something."

"Anything you want," Danzo said as the boy searched the menu, mostly concentrating on the pictures. "Then you can tell us where you've been all these years."

"Oh, believe me." Naruto grinned without taking his eyes off the list. "It's a long story."

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><p><strong>And that is chapter 2! Wow, managed to write this in two days (okay, two and half).<strong>

**I realised on monday that Square Enix is being really puntastic, accidentally I might add! The European release date for 13-2 is 3rd of February (i.e. 3.2.) In Finnish, the date is said: _kolmas toista_, which also means the thirteenth without the space. At least the date isn't 13.2. That would be terrible!**

**Well, now that I've said that I only have one more thing to say: Where the _FUCK _is the spellcheck these days? I've noticed it's gone.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally Lightning would have escorted Naruto all the way back to the village before leaving on Odin.**


	3. The Academy

**Hi again, people! Three chapters in a week and 800+ hits already.**

**Well, I won't hold you back any longer. Read on.**

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><p>The AcademyThe New Student

_"We'll be getting a new student starting tomorrow."_

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><p>Iruka Umino was a teacher at Konoha Ninja Academy. He was of chuunin rank like all teachers, and his most noticeable feature was a scar that crossed his nose horizontally.<p>

He was just about to reveal the results of last week's exams to the class. This was their last test before the graduation exams themselves.

"Alright, class, I have the test results and-"

_Knock, knock._

"Huh? Uhh, come in!" Weird, he wasn't expecting anyone.

The door opened slowly, and Iruka gasped at the sight of a man he really didn't expect.

"Iruka, do you have a moment?"

"Elder Danzo?" Iruka asked, mostly to himself. What was he doing here? "Umm, sure." He turned to his assistant teacher. "Mizuki, can you take it from here?"

Mizuki, a silver haired man in a torn up chuunin vest, nodded. "Of course, Iruka."

Iruka handed over the paper with the test results to him and followed Danzo out of the door, closing it behind him.

"What do you want to talk about, Elder Danzo?"

"I have a favor to ask of you."

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><p>A few minutes after he left, Iruka walked back in, looking shocked and surprised at the same time. Mizuki had just finished his task when he returned. He gave his fellow teacher an inquisitive look, while Iruka simply walked to the front of the class.<p>

"Uhh, I, uhh," he began, way too awkwardly for his liking. He coughed, clearing his throat and tried again. "I have an important announcement to make."

Everyone in the class was immediately all ears. These things didn't happen often; in fact, the last one was last year.

"We'll be getting a new student starting tomorrow," was all he managed to say before he was interrupted.

"But we've been here for years now!" exclaimed a quite furious Kiba Inuzuka. "How can some new kid get to the same class as us just like that?"

Many others agreed on the boy's comment, expressing their opinions very vocally. It was understandable, though. Normally, Iruka wouldn't have let anyone join this late to the semester, but Elder Danzo had said he would take full responsibility, and guaranteed the academy wouldn't regret it. Reluctantly, Iruka had agreed on letting the new student join.

A student in the back row raised his hand for a permission to speak even while the others still complained loudly.

"Yes, Shikamaru?" Iruka held up a hand to silence all the loud mouthed complainers.

"Why exactly are we getting a new student?" asked Shikamaru curiously. "Shouldn't he or she simply start next year like everyone else? I mean, we have barely one month till the graduation."

Iruka sighed silently; he had expected that question. "Normally yes, but Elder Danzo told me our newcomer has trained out of the village and has returned only recently. Or something like that; I'm not too sure." He paused for a moment as Mizuki gave the papers back to him. "As far as any of us should be concerned, the new student will graduate with you. I expect you won't start bullying him for that."

Mizuki gave Kiba a harsh look while the boy in question ignorantly stared at the ceiling and tapped his fingertips together on his lap. Trying to appear innocent without being blamed directly really wasn't useful. He was known to bully people; not out of sheer spite or hate, however, but more of because he wanted attention and to feel superior.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's continue our normal lessons. There are still some things that we need to go through before the end of this month."

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><p>"So, you talked to the teachers, Old Man?"<p>

Danzo smiled happily at the boy as closed the kitchen door behind him. "I did," he said, setting his walking cane leaning against the wall. "It took me a lot of persuading, but you are free to attend the academy starting tomorrow."

"Thanks for helping me out, Old Man." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck briefly before continuing. "I'll be going now. You know where to find me."

Danzo watched him leave, swiftly opening and closing the back door as he headed for whatever place he called home. He had always wanted to know where the boy slept. A cardboard box? A pile of random rubbish? He really hoped it wasn't the latter.

"How do you think he'll do in the academy?" asked his waitress. Her name was Nadeshiko Misaki, and she had worked in his restaurant for three years now. "I heard the graduation standards have been raised since last year."

"I'm sure he'll be just fine," reassured his cook. His name was Gentaro Kisaragi, and had worked here for almost ten years. He was highly competent and liked cooking more than anything. "If he can survive on the streets then the academy shouldn't be any problem at all."

"I hope you're right."

Danzo paid them no heed; his thoughts lingered on Naruto. The boy had changed much over the years - so much in fact that Danzo had a hard time believing it was even the same person. His old, torn up clothes had been replaced by new, clean ones; his old, dirty, wild hair had been cut short and washed; his brooding and depressed personality had been replaced by a much happier and cheerier one.

"Naruto," Danzo whispered, remembering clearly the last time he had done so. "You have changed so much since we last met."

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><p>The very next day had come quickly - at least for him. It was exciting to know he would be attending the ninja academy he had dreamed of when he was much younger. But now that he was finally attending, it felt like he was missing something, like he shouldn't go there alone.<p>

"Mother, I wonder how things are on Pulse," Naruto muttered as he exited his home through a large hole in the roof - his "front door" as he liked to call it. "I miss you every day. Hell, I miss everyone, but you the most. I wish you were here with me."

He stared at the passing clouds, as if willing them to answer him.

He sighed, knowing it was useless.

"Oh well. Got to go now. Can't be late on my first school day here, right?"

He jumped from the roof to the next one and then the next one, before climbing down a ladder. He exited the alley, looked around one more time and then left for the academy.

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><p>The class was filled with heated conversations when Iruka walked in. Everyone present was talking about the new student in one way or another.<p>

"Morning, class," he greeted as he stopped in front of the teacher's desk.

"Morning, Iruka," the students greeted back. Well, most of them did at least. Most notably Shikamaru didn't, sleeping on his seat like always.

Iruka scanned the class with his eyes, looking worried. There was no sign of the new student anywhere. Was he late? On his first day, no less? Not a good sign.

"Any word of our student," Mizuki asked when he walked in and saw no new faces.

"No," answered Iruka, scratching his nose near his scar. "I hope he won't be too late for the lesson."

"I guess we must start witho-"

_Knock, knock._

"Ah, this must be him," Iruka said as he turned towards the door. "Please, come in!"

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><p>Naruto opened the classroom door and walked in.<p>

What he saw wasn't what he had come to expect of a classroom. The only things that were as he had expected were the chalkboard and teacher's desk at the front of the class, on top of a raised portion of the floor maybe ten centimeters high. The student's desks, however, were placed interestingly: the desks were wide enough for three people to sit on at the same time, and were placed so that there were three desks side-by-side with a walking space between, and two more desks behind each one. The last two rows of desks were placed slightly higher than the previous one.

_Such a weird design, _Naruto thought as walked towards the two teachers in green vests.

"So, you are the new kid, I presume," stated the teacher with silver hair.

"That I am. Sorry, I'm late. Had trouble finding this class."

"Would you mind introducing yourself to the class, then?" asked other teacher with a scar across his face.

"The name's Naruto Farron," he said and held out his hand for the scar-faced teacher to shake.

The teacher merely stared dumbly at the gesture, confused.

Naruto lowered his hand after realising handshaking probably wasn't used here. "Sorry. Foreign habit," he said and smiled sheepishly.

The teachers blinked at him and his manners. They certainly weren't expecting this. The students were also pretty surprised going by the way they were all staring at him with their mouths and eyes open. Well, most of them at least: a few didn't seem to care at all.

"Ah, alright then, Naruto," the scar face said after a short while. "If you would take a seat next to Sasuke, so we can begin the lesson. Sasuke, raise your hand!"

A black haired boy with a white shirt raised his hand in the upper row nearest to the windows.

Naruto nodded and made his way to the empty seat next to the boy. He was silent and didn't offer more than a glance as Naruto sat down on his seat; just like he preferred.

Then there was the boy with a black jacket and a big, white dog in the middle desk. He seemed somewhat suspicious to him - like he was trying to pick a fight or something - not to mention he had a damn _dog_ in the classroom. Weren't they forbidden or something? Pets not allowed indoors and so on and so forth?

_Well, this will surely be interesting,_ he thought as the teachers started their lesson.

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><p><strong>And that's the chapter number three!<strong>

**Any Kamen Rider fans here? If yes, then surely you will recognize the names of Danzo's employees. They are named after Fourze and Nadeshiko.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally Naruto would have joined the academy on the day of graduation.**


	4. The Graduation

**Oh, hells yes! Over 1700 hits and 20 favorites, now (why I'm listing the status here, is anyone's guess). I almost can't believe this.**

**Oh, and don't worry about Lightning, she will appear when the time comes.**

**On with the story then!**

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><p>The GraduationThe Genin Exams

"_Our time together has finally come to its end, class._"

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><p>The month in the ninja academy had been truly boring for Naruto.<p>

He found himself often wondering what use was there in the information that the first two Hokages were brothers or how many years ago the village had been founded. This was the last month any of the students would spent in the academy, so why was this taught to them now? Was this a recap month?

Naruto never bothered to really pay attention during lessons, be it useless history or theoretical crap about how chakra was used to perform ninja techniques. Even the physical exercises barely interested him.

All he ever thought about was the gift Lightning gave him. He had decided to delay opening it until he had graduated, and the suspense was killing him.

That aside, the month he spent here had been quite uneventful, save for one occasion where he had had enough of the dog boy, Kiba, mouthing off that he'd taken a school book from Sasuke and thrown it at Kiba's head. The somewhat relieved reaction from everyone else combined with his annoyed glare had convinced him to shut the hell up.

The teachers had let that little stunt pass since Kiba was getting on everyone's nerves, but they had given Naruto a stern look that all but said "Don't do that again, please".

Other than that, nothing had really happened. But now the graduation day had come and they would take their final tests to see if they had what it took to become Konoha's newest genins.

This was going to be fun.

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><p>"Our time together has finally come to its end, class," started Iruka with the biggest smile he could manage. He was truly proud of everyone in the class, although he was still a bit unsure with this Naruto kid, but that could be remedied today. "Today is the last test you'll ever take on your path to becoming ninjas."<p>

Some students cheered loudly.

Mizuki gave the widest smile he could as he started to hand out the test papers. The first part of the exams was a written one, followed by students performing academy-level techniques, and then lastly a physical test with thrown weapons and a one-on-one tournament.

Iruka himself was sitting at the teacher's desk, waiting for his partner to finish his task so they could wait out the hour that had been reserved for the test. There were twenty questions on the paper, and it should only take the reserved time to answer to all of them.

As Mizuki took his seat next to him, he noticed that while everyone else was busy answering the questions to the best of their abilities, Naruto was downright lazily writing his. It was like he wasn't even trying! And seeing that he only used a few seconds per question doing the same hand motions, he apparently was only writing the same thing over and over again.

What could have it been, they both wondered.

After the exams were over they would check it and, if necessary, ask the boy about it.

* * *

><p>At long last the cursed school bell rang to denote the end of this blasted waiting.<p>

It had taken Naruto less than five minutes to write his comment to every answer line in Cocoon script. It was what he had been taught when he still lived with Lightning and Serah. It was thanks to Serah that he could even write or read in the first place. All those years he spent away from here weren't without rewards, obviously, but a difference in their worlds was actively raising its ugly head.

Naruto let out a sigh as the students were asked to form a row at the front of the class for the next part of the exam. Apparently this part was about seeing if they could perform a clone technique and a transformation technique.

Luckily he was the last in line so he wouldn't have to make anyone wait with his coming low-key performance.

_This is going to suck,_ he thought as a blond girl went first and performed the techniques admirably. _Quite a lot._

* * *

><p>Iruka drew a check mark on the chart in his hands as Sasuke undid his transformation and headed out of the class. He had instructed everyone to gather outside for the last part of the exams. The only one left was the new kid, Naruto.<p>

As he read his name on the paper, Iruka wondered what kind of a name Farron was. It was quite obviously not local or from any country near here. Naruto had referred to his strange hand gesture as a foreign habit, but no known country had anything like that. Where exactly had he been living?

"Alright, Naruto," said Mizuki after Sasuke closed the door behind him. "Perform the clone and transformation techniques, please."

Naruto lifted his right hand awkwardly in front of his face with middle and index fingers held together. Both teachers noted that the hand seal was wrong and so was his stance.

"Uhhh, clones? Clone technique?" Naruto said uncertainly. Had he never performed this technique before? "Okay, I give up. Can I go now?"

That was pretty shocking for the teachers. How was he supposed graduate without knowing any of the needed academy techniques? That was practically unheard of!

"Won't you at least try the transformation?" asked Iruka.

"No need, I can't do that either. Can I, please, go now?"

Mizuki only gave a slow nod while trying to understand why he couldn't do neither of the techniques.

"Thanks!"

He was already out of the door before either of them could say anything else. First his lack of focus during lessons, then throwing Kiba with a book, and now this? There was not much hope for the boy unless he pulled a good performance in the physical tests.

Somehow, Iruka dreaded the results, while Mizuki was praying that he wouldn't fail the exam and spend the next year here.

* * *

><p>Everyone was idling in the school yard when Iruka and Mizuki arrived a few minutes after Naruto.<p>

There were two large targets placed three meters apart at side of the yard and two tables, one with five kunai and the other with five shuriken, ten meters away. This was where the weapon throwing skills of the genin hopefuls were to be tested. Everyone would first throw the kunai then the shuriken, while the teachers wrote down the score before retrieving them for the next in line to use.

In the middle of the yard was a big circle about ten meters in diameter, the white outline painted to the ground. This was where last part of the exam was to take place, but that had to wait for a little while longer.

"Alright, everybody," began Mizuki as the conversation between some of the students died out. "Form an orderly line and we'll proceed with the last part of the exams."

No one had to be told twice, eagerly taking their place in the line. Iruka noticed that Naruto once again took the last place without much of a worry. He had expected Shikamaru to try to be the last one, but he was in the middle of the line.

_There is something about that boy_, thought Iruka as he took his place next to his assistant teacher.

"First one, go ahead," said Mizuki with a smile. He was thrilled to see how everyone had progressed since the last physical exercise with throwing weapons two months ago. He also awaited to see Naruto's performance, secretly hoping it was better than the disappointing performance with the techniques.

The first in line went ahead and threw the kunai one by one before proceeding to the other table and repeating the act with the shuriken. Iruka wrote down the points acquired and Mizuki retrieved the thrown objects for the next one.

Neither noticed Naruto scowling by himself at the end of the line.

* * *

><p>Finally everyone else had had their turn and it was his. Oh, how he had dreaded this.<p>

Naruto had never in his life trained to use such a weapon, and now that he was holding a kunai in his hand, he knew why. It required a lot of practice to throw the kunai so it didn't go flying off target. Not to mention that everyone before him had thrown it underhanded. How the hell was he supposed to do _that_?

Glancing around, he saw the teachers waiting impatiently for him to throw. It was shocking that they weren't biting their nails off in suspense, going by their disbelieving reaction to his inability to perform the required ninja techniques.

Taking the blade by the tip like a knife thrower and rearing his hand he prepared to at least try to get one kunai as close as possible. Of course, Naruto knew he wouldn't get more than a few hits with his inexperience and technique.

Naruto let the first knife fly, then quickly grabbed the second one and threw it as well, then the third, and then the last two at the same time. Looking at his work he realised proudly that one kunai had hit the target - near the edge of it, but it was legitimate hit.

As he moved on to the shuriken table, he could feel the disbelief in the teachers grow ever stronger and his classmates weren't so above it themselves. Maybe they had never met someone who hadn't hit with _at least_ three kunai.

Without a pause Naruto grabbed the shuriken and threw them one by one, just like he did with the kunai, but this time he got two hits - one near the center and the other barely hitting the target's left side. Better than before, at least.

_Who'd have known_? Naruto thought with a grin. Surprisingly good for a bad thrower like him.

With his low score written down it was time to proceed to the very last part of the exams: the one-on-one matches.

* * *

><p>The students formed a row yet again, standing together like this for the final time this day. They were standing by the painted fighting circle waiting for Iruka and Mizuki to choose the opponents. They would also oversee the fights to make sure no one used weapons or otherwise broke the rules.<p>

But before either of them could pick the first pair, a hand rose to the air for a permission to speak. Surprisingly, as if this day wasn't full of surprises all ready, it was Naruto. What did he want?

"Yes, Naruto?" asked Mizuki.

Lowering his hand, Naruto answered with a question of his own, "If this is supposed to be a one-on-one match, then does this mean one of us has to fight twice?"

"Huh?"

"There are twenty seven of us students here," Naruto explained, gesturing at the gathered boys and girls with his hands. "Twenty seven divided by two equals thirteen plus an extra one. Get what I mean yet?"

Iruka did a quick headcount. Twenty seven students present; Naruto was correct. But who would want to go twice? It would be an unfair fight for the one who did. He could see other students were coming to the same conclusion.

"You are right, Naruto," said Iruka, nodding. His eyes scanned the gathered students for anyone who might want to volunteer.

No one moved.

"Volunteers, please step forward!"

Still, no one moved.

"Come on, we'll be here all day if no one does anything!" Mizuki added, trying to encourage at least someone to step forth.

The effect was instant, but not in the expected way: It was Naruto, the only student who had shown himself to barely care for the exams, who stepped forward eagerly. Was he really that interested in getting this over with?

"I'll do it," said Naruto as he got clear of the row. "On the condition that I can choose my opponents."

A lot of the students snickered at his comment, wondering how a new kid, who couldn't even make a good throw, could stand up against any of them. While Iruka had his own doubts he couldn't stand mocking behavior like this, so he told them to shut it.

"And at the same time," Naruto continued, turning to look at the other with strong determination in his eyes. He was clearly serious. Oh, how could he actually be serious about that?

Even more snickering, even outright mocking and laughing, but Naruto didn't bat an eye at them. If anything, he narrowed his eyes at the opposite end of the row. It seemed he had picked his opponents.

"Alright, Naruto," said Mizuki, uncertain of his own voice. "If it means we can go on with the exams."

This kind of thing was unheard of since usually there was an even number of students and thus no need for it. It seemed Naruto made exceptions happen: getting to the academy when there was a month left, taking part of the final exams without performing either of the required techniques, answering every question of the written part with one sentence in unknown letters, and now this.

Flashing a grin, Naruto set out to the other side of the row where he had been staring menacingly a moment before. He walked right up to Sasuke, pushed a student next to him aside to get behind him, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him forward.

"You're up, buddy!"

"What? Me? B-b-b-but..." Sasuke's protests were ignored as he was dragged against his will to the fighting ring. He was unusually reluctant about it; anyone else would have been jumping in glee for getting an easy fight, like Kiba who was more than eager to be chosen. One would think that the rookie of the year versus the new kid with no real skills would be over in a second.

With Sasuke inside the ring, Naruto turned back to the others. He rubbed his chin with his hand as his watched them like a hawk. A moment later his eyes locked with a tall boy dressed in a grey hoodie and black pants with two white vertical stripes on the sides, and whose black hair reached down to his shoulders. His name was Shun Daimonji, and he was one of the best of the class in taijutsu.

Naruto pointed his finger at Shun and said, "You."

Shun looked to his sides in confusion and then pointed his thumb at himself. "Me?" he asked, to which Naruto nodded and gestured to come to him. "Okay then."

With the last combatant in the ring, standing equal distance from each other, it was time to finally get this started. Mizuki took his place as the referee on one side of the ring while Iruka did the same on the opposite one.

They both were not too sure of this fight's outcome. On the one hand Sasuke was the best of the class in ninjutsu, genjutsu _and_ taijutsu, while Shun was only a little behind him; but on the other hand no one had seen Naruto fight before, so he might surprise them.

However, if anyone were to bet, it didn't look good for the new kid.

* * *

><p>"Begin!"<p>

The three combatants tensed, but didn't move at each other just yet. They eyed each other cautiously, waiting for one of them to attack. It didn't take long for Naruto to take a bold step forward to taunt his opponents, to show he wasn't scared of them one bit.

The effect was almost instant, just like he had hoped: Shun charged forward to unleash a brutal punch that everyone expected to end the match for Naruto.

In a surprising show of agility, Naruto ducked under the punch and gave a punch of his own, an uppercut that struck right into Shun's jaw with enough force to send him stumbling backwards. He was still seeing stars when Naruto's other fist collided with his chest and forced him to take a few steps towards the edge of the ring.

The non-fighting students stared in wonder as Shun regained his bearings. He was almost two meters tall and mostly solid muscle, easily capable of punching out anyone else in the class. To be forced back by a boy at least twenty centimeters shorter and no real muscle was shocking to say the least.

Quickly turning around, Naruto saw Sasuke trying to take advantage of the situation, charging forward with fist reared up for a strike just like Shun had a few seconds before. Acting fast, Naruto directed the oncoming fist past him with his hand, much to Sasuke's surprise, and then followed up with a kick to the back that send him to the ground.

With a yell of anger, Shun shoulder tackled Naruto off his feet and send him in turn to the ground. He then sidestepped a leg sweep from Sasuke as he got up and took his fighting stance. Shun took an identical stance, something that everyone in the academy had been taught. Off to the side Naruto stood up, while casually dusting off his clothes.

Sasuke attacked first, beginning with a three hit combo and following it with a roundhouse kick. Shun blocked or dodged all of them, but was unprepared for a sudden kick to his back that left him open for a punch from Sasuke.

Naruto dodged a hit directed against him by Sasuke, then retaliated with a backhand to the face before turning slightly to the side to avoid a powerful punch from Shun. A swift kick to the gut and a punch to the temple later, the big guy staggered backwards, while Naruto faced off against Sasuke.

Blocking a hit, Naruto countered with a harsh strike to the face that left him dazed. He followed up by repeatedly kicking his opponent's midriff while forcing him back step by step until he was at the very edge of the fighting ring.

Hearing the sudden movement of the dirt from rapidly approaching footsteps and a determined yell of rage, Naruto dived to the side as fast as he could. And just in time because Shun's mighty fist came crashing down a second later, missing him all together and striking the rather unfortunate Uchiha to the face with enough force to send him off the ring.

Staring in shock at Sasuke's unconscious body a good two meters away, Shun didn't have time to react as a smaller fist met his nose and most likely broke it. Blood leaked out, but he didn't let it bother him as went for another offensive.

Once again ducking under the highly predictable right straight, Naruto gave him the second uppercut of the day. Shun's head snapped back from the sudden hit, then he bent over from a hard kick to the groin and ultimately collapsed just outside the ring from a blow to the temple.

Breathing heavily, Naruto looked around him for a brief moment, too used to possible ambushes during all those years he had spent away from this place. Slowly he touched the already forming bruise on his face from a lucky hit by Sasuke who was just now coming to.

"Can I go now?" he whispered while turning to Iruka. "Victory is mine, is it not?"

Snapping himself out of his shock, Iruka raised his hand to the air. "Winner, Naruto Farron."

Naruto nodded and walked out of the ring, only to stop and help Sasuke stand up to his wobbling feet. He gave his opponent a pat to the back before he continued his walk. He was going to wait at the edge of the yard by the academy wall for the remaining students to have their fights.

He needed to rest after having to beat up two guys at the same time. He had never faced a human opponent before in his life, but there was always a first time for everything, was there not?

He groaned as he collapsed against the wall.

He watched as the next pair was chosen while Sasuke sat down a few meters from where he had fallen. Shun was also starting to pick himself up from the ground, his world still spinning.

"How long is this going to take again? I have a present to open," he muttered to himself.

* * *

><p>It didn't take more than half an hour for the exams to be finally finished and the two teachers led everybody back to the class room. Then they were told to wait another half an hour while they went to evaluate their final performance and to retrieve the headbands they'd wear as genins of Konoha.<p>

With everyone present it was clear that the only ones truly roughed up from their fights were Sasuke and Shun, a nasty black eye and a broken nose, respectively. Everyone else was fine except for a few bruises and scratches.

Iruka and Mizuki returned just as the clock marked the end of the half an hour. With them they had a large amount of blue colored headbands with a small metallic plate, engraved with the leaf symbol of the village, on them. They set them down on the teacher's desk and turned to address the delighted students with smiles.

"I am happy to inform that every one of you passes the genin exams!" exclaimed Iruka happily, then lowered his voice to nothing more than a whisper that was barely audible even to himself. "Some barely."

Most of the new genins cheered loudly. At least no one had to stay for another year in the academy.

Then Mizuki realised something and he whispered to his partner's ear.

"Oh! Almost forgot!" he whispered more to himself than anyone else. "Naruto!"

The blond in question turned to look away from the window he always seemed to stare out of. Silently, he tilted his head to the side.

"What exactly does your test paper read? Neither of us can read it."

Naruto's mouth opened in wordless understanding. "Ahh, it says: 'I can't read it'."

The resultant silence was instant, no one saying anything as they tried to grasp the concept of a graduating ninja who couldn't read but could write. Deciding this was enough of being shocked for one day, Iruka directed the attention to more pressing matters.

"I see," he said slowly. "Well, anyways. You are now free to pick a headband from the table and go home. Also remember to be here by ten o'clock tomorrow morning for your team assignments."

People began to flood from their seats to the desk and out of the door, carrying their new headbands proudly.

* * *

><p>Fighting against two opponents at the same time was not easy in the slightest, but Naruto was more than thankful he had started taking self defense classes three years ago - of course, he had not expected he would have ever needed them back then.<p>

He wondered how tomorrow would turn out; being assigned to a genin team with two others was not something he was particularly looking forward to.

Lying on the worn out mattress that he used as a bed, Naruto realised that he still hadn't opened the present Lightning gave him.

He rose to his feet and walked to an old night table where the package lay, knocking the headband aside. Slowly and carefully, he began to pry it open. His eyes slowly widened as more and more of its contents were revealed.

He felt tears form in his eyes a mere second before he broke down crying in both joy and sorrow at the sight of it all.

"Mother..."

His sobbing echoed in the empty recesses of his home with no one there to hear him.

"I love you."

* * *

><p><strong>And that's that.<strong>

**As you can see there won't be the "Forbidden Scroll Incident" with Mizuki because it would be totally useless. Also, Sasuke is NOT a power obsessed jerk you see in almost every fic these days. It annoys me so much, especially when it's pointless and boring most of the time. I mean, sheesh!**

**Oh yeah, Shun is another name from Kamen Rider Fourze (damn I suck). Also, don't expect another chapter until at least after Christmas.**

**Can anyone guess what's in the present? Any guess will do, as long as you keep it reasonable.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally during the technique part of the exam, Naruto would have transformed into Lightning, but still failed with clones.**


	5. The Team

**Merry Christmas!**

**First allow me to express my feelings about one thing: FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuu- *cough, cough* -****UUUUUUCCCKK! Why was it so clear that Naruto is getting a damn gunblade? Was it really that obvious? At least I can spoil that it wasn't the only thing as you'll find out in a moment (you might have noticed that I used a plural).**

**Current status is well over 2800 hits and 32 favorites.**

**I decided to wait a week to actually upload this on Christmas so the next chapter can be uploaded on New Year's Eve.**

**Nonetheless, enjoy.**

* * *

><p>The TeamThe Unlikely Trio

"_Wait, does this mean we are in the same team?_"

* * *

><p>It was an early hour, ungodly so, but Naruto didn't care at all.<p>

Buckling his collar as high as possible, he made his way out of his home through his "back door", a hole hidden by a bunch of old boxes from the outside on the lower floor. No one but him knew of the entrance's existence so he could always use it without being noticed.

Naruto walked out of the alley and stopped to look around. The sun hadn't risen yet so the only people outdoors were ninjas. That was just fine for him; the less people on the streets, the better.

With one last look behind him, Naruto started his trek to the academy. Maybe he could find something to do while waiting for the other genins to arrive. They were probably wearing their headbands proudly on their heads or arms.

How patriotic of them.

Naruto, for one, didn't bother to do more than carry the headband in his coat's pocket; the other pocket holding something much dearer. He was never one to wear hats or anything else that was supposed to be worn on one's head. Maybe one day he didn't have to carry it anymore.

He just hoped the academy doors were open so he didn't have to wait outside for a few hours.

* * *

><p>And of course the door was locked and wouldn't be opened until the first teacher got here.<p>

It was kind of stupid to have the academy in the same building as the Hokage's office and some other important places for ninjas, and then lock the door to that part of the building. It made no sense! Maybe it _was_ a bad idea to wake up before the damned sun even rose.

"There has to be another way in," Naruto said, looking for a window that was left open. It was a small hope, but someone was bound to make a tiny mistake by not closing the window. Everyone made mistakes, even the "great" fal'Cie, the damnable monsters.

His eyes stopped their search when he did find a window that was barely open. It was on the third floor while his class was on the second, but it was no trick for him to just walk down a floor. The class doors were always left unlocked after all.

"Let's see how this works." He had never tried this one out before, but he had seen Lightning use it a couple of times. It was why he had even asked her if he could ever get one, in fact.

Naruto snapped his fingers and instantly he was covered in a bluish glow. He felt surprisingly light, but he didn't let it distract him as he ran to the wall and then upwards, reaching the desired window in no time. Everywhere he stepped he left behind a glowing footprint that disappeared a moment later. As he pushed the window fully open he snapped his fingers again, and the glow vanished.

The classroom was unlike the one he was heading for. The desks were just like the ones in his class but were placed in three long lines with no elevation when going towards the back of the class. The color was also a bit darker and the desks seemed a bit wider.

_I wonder what this class is used for_, Naruto thought as he made his way to the door. He only had to find a way to the second floor and then his class. Piece of cake.

He still had many hours till ten o'clock.

* * *

><p>It was five to ten now, Sasuke noted.<p>

He had been one of the first who came to the academy about half an hour ago, and since then hadn't done much more than just sit on his seat. Most were talking to each other or waiting silently for the teachers to come; a few were reading a book or eating; while Shikamaru was snoring audibly at his desk.

Nearly everyone was already present, wearing their headbands proudly on their heads or arms. Only ones missing were the annoying Ino and Sakura, the always hungry Chouji, the new kid Naruto, and the always lazy Shikamaru.

Looking out of the window Sasuke thought about the blond boy. He seemed to be, if the fight between them and Shun was of any indication, an agile fighter, but he was also oddly distant and always stared out of the window. During lunch and breaks he always sat alone in the classroom while everyone else was in the canteen or outside.

"Hey, Sasuke!" a painfully familiar female voice announced as a pair of arms wrapped around him. Lost in his thoughts, he had failed to notice Ino and Sakura walk in, arguing which one was going to be in the same team as him.

"Ino-pig, let go of my Sasuke!" yelled an enraged Sakura. She grabbed Ino and pulled her off him, while Sasuke sighed quietly.

This happened so often he didn't even bother to open his mouth to make his annoyance known. At times like this he wished he knew a technique that allowed him to disappear, to sink through the floor. To make the matters worse, Ino's seat was the one on his right while Sakura's was in the front row. They could never make up their minds on which one sat where; they both wanted the seat next to him. At least they hadn't realised they could have taken both of the seats next to him when they were still vacant before Naruto came along.

Sasuke then noticed something that made his mind go into overdrive: Shikamaru and Chouji walking into the class and taking their seats. The snoring had also stopped, but if Shikamaru had just walked in, then who was the one snoring?

A hand slammed onto Naruto's seat from under the desk, startling Sasuke and the two arguing girls. The annoyed blond pulled himself up to his seat without a word a second later, rubbing his eyes.

His clothing had gone through interesting yet sudden changes: Instead of wearing nothing more than his t-shirt, track pants and boots, he now wore a white overcoat that was clearly a little too big for him over his shirt, a belt around his waist with a big black case hanging from it, and a black fingerless glove on his left hand with a strange metal plate unlike any he had ever seen on it. There was also a red cape hanging from his left shoulder, and there was something big and metallic in the case behind him.

"You've been sleeping under the desk all this time?" asked Sasuke, surprised.

Naruto yawned loudly and stretched his arms before responding. "For a few hours, yes."

Iruka and Mizuki walked in a second later, ready to announce the genin teams and their jounin teachers. Ino and Sakura thankfully took their seats quietly, while Naruto slipped under the desk again.

"Wake me up when my teacher arrives," he said.

Sasuke nodded, while the chuunins began to list the members of the first team after giving one more congratulations to everybody.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up some time later and climbed back to his seat quietly. Sasuke hadn't woken him up yet, so either he forgot or his teacher hadn't arrived yet.<p>

"Ain't here yet," said Sasuke, deadpan as usual. Did he ever smile? He didn't do so yesterday nor for the whole month they had known each other.

He seemed very annoyed, and for a good reason.

There was no one left in the room but them and that pink haired girl whose arguing with the other girl had woken him up. What was her name again? Sakura? A damned harpy, that's what she was! She was seated in the first row, righthand seat of the leftmost desk. She was clearly just as annoyed as Sasuke.

"Wait, does this mean we are in the same team?" asked Naruto as he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness. Sleeping in a cramped space for hours was not really healthy. Then again, same could be said about using an old, dusty house filled with rusty and worn out furniture as home, but that was beside the point.

"Yes," Sasuke nodded. "And Sakura's our teammate."

Hiding his irritation, Naruto nodded and took the time to check the time. It was eleven o'clock; he had been asleep for an hour.

This also meant that the jounin was an hour late!

_Damn, what kind of idiot is this guy?_

As if to answer Naruto's unvoiced question, the door to the class opened and man walked in. He was about a meter and eighty centimeters tall and in his late twenties. He wore the standard green flak jacket that ninjas used, black shirt under it and equally black pants. The lower part of his face was covered by a face mask and his headband covered his left eye. His most noticeable feature was his gravity defying silver hair - how much hair gel did this guy use?

This guy was supposed a jounin? A horribly late one at the very least.

"You're late!" Sakura screamed angrily to which the jounin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while smiling - at least Naruto thought he was smiling.

"Yes, yes, sorry about that," he replied. "I got lost on the road of life." Before anyone could say anything about his lame excuse, he lowered his hand and continued, "Alright, Team Seven! Follow me to the roof!"

With that said he walked out of the door with the trio in tow.

* * *

><p>As they arrived on the roof, Kakashi sat down on the handrail while his students sat down on the steps half a dozen meters away. Why someone had the bright idea to have two steps on the roof of the building, he would never know.<p>

"Alright, now that we are here, it's time to introduce ourselves. Name, hobbies, what you like and don't, dreams for the future."

"Can't you go first?" asked the pink haired girl. Sakura Haruno was her name. She was dressed in a red top, with black gloves, black boots, black shorts, short grey apron skirt and grey elbow protectors. Her headband was used as a hairband.

"It's only polite to introduce yourself before asking," said the black haired boy. He was Sasuke Uchiha, the last surviving member of his clan after his brother massacred them all and fled the village. He was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, dark blue pants, and sandals. His headband was tied around his forehead.

"Well, I guess I can do that," mused Kakashi, noting that the blond boy dressed in a white overcoat with equally white t-shirt under it, dark blue track pants and brown boots was the only one not to comment. This was Naruto Farron, the only passing student in years who had shown no skill in academy-level techniques or weapon throwing. He was also the only one of the three who didn't wear his headband.

The trio was expecting him to start with hopeful expressions, curious to learn about him.

_Better not leave them hanging_, Kakashi thought as he cleared his throat and began his introduction. "My name is Kakashi Hatake; I have no hobbies worth mentioning; I like many things and dislike many more; my dream for the future is none of your business. So there!" He gave them another smile.

The silence was so total that if it was gold he would have been the richest person in the entire world several times over. Maybe he should have revealed at least something about himself.

"Now, that," said Naruto, "was _the_ lamest introduction I have ever heard."

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree," nodded Sasuke, glaring at the jounin.

"Same here," said Sakura.

Kakashi sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. They were steadily getting sidetracked already.

"Alright, then. Sakura!"

The pink haired girl in question raised an eyebrow.

"Your turn now."

"I'm Sakura Haruno," she began with a smile. "I have no hobbies; I like Sasuke and dislike Ino-pig. As for dreams..." she trailed off and blushed while giggling when she turned to Sasuke.

The boy in question shivered at the sound of it. It seemed he was not very fond of the idea, and Kakashi couldn't help agreeing with him.

_Fangirl it seems. Why did I get a fangirl in _my_ team_? he wondered, then pointed at Sasuke. "You're next, Sasuke."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha; I have no notable hobbies, likes or dislikes. My dream is to someday kill my brother to avenge the death of my clan," he explained flatly.

_OK, an avenger. At least that doesn't seem to be his top priority at the moment. Maybe he will turn out just fine, _Kakashi thought, noting that Sakura was staring at Sasuke with a comforting expression; while Naruto stayed quiet.

"You're up, Naruto," Kakashi said.

Naruto sighed heavily before starting. "My name is Naruto Farron; I have no hobbies; I like my mother and her friends, and I dislike many, many things." The boy went quiet after that, opting to stare at his boots.

"And your dream for the future?" Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who asked that, beating Kakashi to the punch.

"For her to remember our promise," Naruto whispered, his mood going from largely indifferent to downright sad in a nanosecond. A sore subject it seemed.

_Huh, a mama's boy? Didn't see that one coming, _mused Kakashi. This had to be the weirdest team to ever graduate from the academy.

Sasuke had raised an eyebrow, while Sakura had tilted her head to the side, both staring at Naruto like he had grown a second head. They looked more curious than surprised by his words. This didn't come as a surprise for Kakashi, considering no one knew much about Naruto besides his name. It was still a mystery how he even got to the damned graduation class; Iruka had been very vague about it.

"Well, I guess that's all for today," said Kakashi, breaking the silence. "We'll meet again tomorrow in the Third Training Ground at nine o'clock. There'll be one last test to see if you truly are fit to become genins."

He left the three teens on the roof before any of them could say anything.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sighed. This had been a total waste of time!<p>

The only useful info was where to meet tomorrow, and nothing more. What use was there supposed to be in introductions like these, anyway? Kakashi hadn't even bothered himself, so why should they have? The only one who seemed to care was Sakura, but one never knew with her. Just thinking about her made Sasuke shiver.

They all stood up and prepared to leave, but strangely Naruto walked to the edge of the roof instead of heading for the staircase that led down from the rooftop like the others. He climbed onto the handrail and chuckled when he saw their worried faces. He lifted his right hand in front of his face and snapped his fingers, instantly covering himself in a mysterious glow.

Then he jumped backwards, off the handrail and off the rooftop, plummeting down towards the unforgiving ground.

"Naruto!" a horrified Sakura screamed as she and Sasuke rushed to the spot where he had jumped off, fully expecting to see him lying dead on the ground in a pool of blood. Their fear soon turned to astonishment when they saw Naruto walking down the street like nothing had happened, with no indication that he had just suicidally jumped from the top the academy.

"What the...? How did he do that?!" asked Sasuke in disbelief. Not even experienced ninjas could fall from that high and survive unscathed.

Sakura was just as shocked as he was, if not more. That, however, didn't last long.

"So, Sasuke, now that we're alone and-"

As she turned to face her crush she found him to be missing, gone without a trace. It was like he had never been there to begin with.

"Where did he go?"

* * *

><p><strong>Finally done!<strong>

**OK, to answer your questions about the gift's contents, here's a summary: a replica of Lightning's overcoat, a gunblade (well, duh), a family photo, a grav-con unit and an experimental manadrive (the glove). The gunblade is not Blazefire Saber, by the way. I was going for it until I found something better for him, Flamberge, its upgraded version. The reason being that I didn't like the dull grey color and because it fires higher velocity bullets.**

**The manadrive is capable of casting any of the five tier 1 elemental spells (i.e. fire, thunder, water, blizzard, aero), but is incapable of any higher level ones and requires a short (maybe ten seconds or so) recharge time after every three spells. I put the limitations in because I didn't want him to throw any higher level spells just like that. There _was_ a part in my earlier drafts where he would have overloaded the device to fire off ultima against Kiba. Yeah, you can see why it didn't work.**

**Also, before I forget: I wasn't too sure of the grav-con unit's color. The picture in Final Fantasy Wiki that I use for reference seems blue, but it does look a little more like purple in the game. I can't remember; I platium'd the game back in july and haven't touched it since. We'll just use blue, okay?**

**Well, anyways. Merry Christmas one more time and...**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally, Naruto wasn't going to jump off the roof.**


	6. The Test

**Happy New Year, people!**

**The current status is well over 3900 and 33 favorites. C2 count is also now 1. Yay! I guess...**

**Seeing how fast these numbers have been going up, I have to ask you: How did you find this story in the first place? I'd like to know.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The TestWorking As A Team

"_I think I get it._"

* * *

><p>It was nine o'clock when Naruto arrived at the Third Training Ground. Sakura and Sasuke were both already there, sitting on a log with no sign of Kakashi anywhere. The lateness of the supposed jounin wasn't really a surprise considering he was infamously late most of the time - according Old Man Danzo at least. No one actually knew what he did to arrive so late.<p>

The place was a wide, open, grassy area with a forest and a small lake surrounding it. Large bushes lined the treeline, making excellent hiding places, and the trees were tall enough for their branches to support multiple people.

Sitting down next to his teammates on the log, Naruto noticed how tired they looked. In fact, Sakura actually wasn't trying to get close to Sasuke; instead she had a hard time keeping her eyes open, her head drooping once in a while. Sasuke was using his hand to steady himself while doing his best to avoid falling asleep.

"Wow, what happened to you guys?" asked Naruto in mock wonder. He himself wasn't tired at all, having woken up about an hour ago.

"Been here for almost an hour now," said Sakura. She sounded more like she was talking in her sleep than anything else.

"Absolutely bored right now," added Sasuke, turning to Naruto. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

Sasuke sighed. "How are _you_ right now?"

"Probably like you in a moment if Kakashi doesn't appear soon." He knew that wouldn't happen for at least an hour if what Danzo told him was true, but why worry them?

Silence filled the area. They sat there in boredom, until:

"So, either of you think we should just go have breakfast and _then_ come back?" asked Naruto. He knew there was no point wasting time by sitting on a log.

That caught his teammates' interest. In an instant their sleepy demeanor disappeared and they turned to stare at him hopefully. It was unnerving to see them both agreeing so clearly on something without Sakura going fangirl on Sasuke, ignorant of how uncomfortable she made him.

"There's this one place I know."

"Really? You'll pay too?" asked Sakura.

"Does it matter?" asked Sasuke as he stood up, stretching. "Anyways, I have my wallet with me; was planning on buying something today."

Jumping to his feet, Naruto gestured them to follow. He didn't have to look back to know the others were behind him. After all, who would have turned down an offer like this? Hopefully Old Man Danzo could give them a nice discount or so.

Kakashi wouldn't appear for another hour so what was the rush?

* * *

><p>Kakashi arrived at the designated training ground two hours late, already rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.<p>

"Sorry, sorry, I got lost on the... road... of... life?"

To his shock the place was empty. There was no sign of anyone having been here in ages.

"Where are they?" he wondered out loud. He looked all around him, but found no evidence of his students' presence. They couldn't have gotten lost, could they? He gave clear orders to be here by nine o'clock - disregarding how he himself wasn't there on time.

His ears picked up talking from behind him. It was faint, too far away for words to be made out, but he didn't need them to know who it was - or rather who they were.

"Hey look!" Naruto's voice called out, no doubt pointing at him with his finger. "It's Kakashi! See, I told you he'd be here by the time we came back."

Kakashi palmed his face in irritation, but quickly recovered when Naruto's words registered in his head.

_Came back?_ he thought as he turned to face his students. He could see Sakura eating a dango stick. Did they deliberately go against his orders not to eat breakfast before this test? Oh, the nerve and-

Wait a minute. He forgot to tell them that!

"I still can't believe he is supposed to a jounin," Sasuke remarked. The trio was now sitting on a log a few meters away from Kakashi who was mentally cursing himself for forgetting a very crucial piece of information.

"Nice of you to show up," Kakashi said flatly. He would have sighed, but knew it was better not to show any signs of irritation.

"You know, that's what we should say to you," said Naruto, grinning like an idiot. In a second the grin vanished and his usual nonchalant demeanor took its place. Sometimes it felt like he was worse than Sasuke, which was saying something.

Kakashi sighed at the childish behavior. He really needed to ask around about the boy, but first the genin test. He reached into his pocket and took out two small bells. He showed them to his students and then tied them to his waist as he explained what to do.

"Alright then. Your task is to get these two bells from me before noon - which is about one hour from now. If you succeed, you pass and officially become genin; fail and you all go back to the academy. No exceptions." He checked how they reacted and was glad when none of them backed off. "Now, any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand for a permission to speak.

Kakashi nodded his head towards her.

"But there are only two bells. Does that mean one of us has to go back no matter what?" she asked, lowering her hand.

"Excellent question, Sakura! And yes, you are correct. One of you will have to go back to the academy while the other two get to be genins."

Their reaction was somewhat disappointing to Kakashi, who, instead of getting looks of horror and disbelief, got stares that dared him to say something interesting. What was wrong with kids these days?

"So when do we start?" asked Sasuke with a hint of excitement in his words.

Naruto seemed deep in thought, his hand lightly fingering whatever was in the black case behind him. Next to him Sakura appeared to be ready for anything, squeezing her hands into fists.

Kakashi sighed again, wondering why he was wasting this much time when they were already supposed to start the test. Better late than never, it seemed.

"We start right now!"

* * *

><p>The team jumped into action right away, but in the way Kakashi had not expected.<p>

Sasuke and Sakura immediately jumped into the surrounding bushes and trees while Naruto sprang away from the log to the other side of the field. They hid well, but Kakashi was a jounin for a reason and easily knew where each of them was.

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he reached into a pouch and took out an orange book. He opened it and began reading it, waiting for the first one to attack him. His eye moved from side to side, only keeping the book in front of him to hide where he was looking at any given moment. He kept himself on edge in case someone decided to throw kunai and shuriken at him.

Then, as he lowered the book to look over it, Kakashi realised that unlike his teammates Naruto simply stood on the other side of the field. There was something fishy about the boy, and Kakashi knew it. He put the book back into the pouch and faced the blond.

Naruto gave him a small smile as he opened the left pocket of his coat and took out his headband. He started walking forward while tying it around his forehead. As the boy finished tying the knot to fasten the headband in place, he stopped a good three meters away from Kakashi, staring at the jounin like a hawk.

"I'm surprised you are not attacking me head on, Naruto," said Kakashi, quickly letting his eye shift from left to right to see if someone was flanking him. He saw no one. "What is a mama's boy like you going to do, I wonder."

Instead of flying into blind rage from the comment like expected, Naruto brushed off the insult like he had heard it a thousand times. The only indication he was even acknowledging it was the raised eyebrows and the subtle shift in his stance.

"You really should try taking things seriously."

"And _you_ should ask yourself how a man like you is a jounin, cyclops."

"Hey! That hurt!" Kakashi didn't really feel angered by the boy's comment, but it did make him analyze the situation again. The blond wasn't clearly afraid of him nor was he going to back down without a fight.

There was rustling in the bushes to the left. Kakashi knew it was Sasuke since Sakura was spying on them from a tree branch to the right. Were they planning? Waiting for an opportunity to present itself? Whatever it was, Kakashi had to prepare for anything.

"You should heed your own advice, Kakashi," Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest with a quiet chuckle. "Letting yourself get distracted will only get you killed someday."

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he stared at the infuriatingly calm boy. "And you are an expert on this matter?" he asked. It was more of a joke than anything serious.

Naruto looked down at his feet, his arms falling back to his sides. "You have no idea, Kakashi," he whispered in a dangerous tone. "You have no idea." He shook his head and lifted it up to resume their staring contest. This time, though, there was an angry glint in his eyes that promised nothing but pain.

A kunai flew overhead, lightly touching the very top of Kakashi's silver hair. The man drew a kunai of his own to deflect two more. They had all come from Sasuke who used them as a distraction while switching bushes. Kakashi spun around to face Sakura's direction on pure reflex in case she tried to copy Sasuke's move. Fortunately none came.

"It's not wise to turn your back to your opponent."

Kakashi's eye widened in shock as he heard it; not because of the words themselves, but because they were spoken right next to his ear. In an instant he turned again with his kunai ready to force the boy back. To his surprise Naruto caught his hand, pushed it away and grabbed his shoulders with both hands.

"What are y-?"

Naruto gave him a brutal headbutt, the metal plate of the headband slamming right into his exposed eye.

* * *

><p>The stunned silence was only broken by Kakashi's pained cries of agony as he staggered away from the only opponent who had ever caught him this off-guard. He covered his eye with his hand while trying to prevent Naruto from closing in by swiping the kunai from side to side blindly. He had prepared for anything, but this was simply something one couldn't have expected from a genin class ninja.<p>

Sasuke was waiting for the perfect chance to swipe one of the bells. He knew Sakura was also doing the same. He hadn't expected such an unusual tactic when he threw his kunai to distract the jounin, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?

"Aaargh! Fuck! Son of a-!"

Kakashi's rage fueled curse was cut short when Naruto's boot struck him in the groin. He bent over in pain and collapsed on the ground, holding his aching groin and eye, moaning pathetically in pain. He was out of the fight quite easily.

_Now_!

Sasuke ran from his hiding place as did Sakura, and each took a bell before Naruto could do more than blink. To his credit he didn't seem more than slightly irritated.

And when Sasuke thought about it, he felt there was something else to the test altogether.

But what could have it been?

* * *

><p>Kakashi stood up a few minutes after the devious blow struck him low. His crotch still hurt and so did his face. He had never thought a boy who was barely a genin could have devised such a cunning plan and defeat him. If this was a real battle situation he would have died right then and there.<p>

"Are you OK, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura's voice to his right.

"Well, I just kicked him in the nuts, so what do you think?" asked Naruto's voice as Kakashi's vision began to finally clear.

"Don't you think that was a little overkill, Naruto?" asked Sasuke in turn from behind him.

"He'll be fine."

Kakashi rubbed his face as he tested his wobbling legs, doing his best not to aggravate his groin. It was surprising how much boots could hurt; he had never been kicked in the groin before, but he had known it hurt _quite_ a lot.

"Please, don't do that again, Naruto," whispered Kakashi, hiding his pain with years of practice and experience. "I mean it."

"So do we pass now?" asked Sasuke.

Kakashi blinked - half from confusion, half to clear his vision. He touched where the bells were supposed to hang and found naught but air. With his mind in doubt and denial he looked at them one by one. Sasuke and Sakura held bells in their hands. They had succeeded; he had been beaten. He was going to be the laughing stock of every ninja in the village if this got out.

What an embarrassing defeat.

On the bright side, though, his students had worked as a team, proving themselves worthy to be a genin team of Konoha.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I'm saying this," Kakashi started, his eye doing its best to stay open despite still watering, giving an impression he was crying in joy. "But I am proud to inform that starting tomorrow, we are all officially Team Seven!"<p>

"Huh?" was the general response to his words, none of them understanding why all three of them would make up the team. After all, Kakashi's instructions clearly stated that only the two who had swiped the bells were to pass.

"You worked as a team to get the bells in time," explained Kakashi with calmness that belied his injuries. Apparently he was oblivious to the fact that there was no actual plan or teamwork to speak of. "You showed capability for teamwork and good judgement for a team fresh out of the academy. You see, the only way to get the bells from me was through teamwork; and you proved that even an experienced jounin like me can be defeated with it."

"I think I get it," said Sasuke after a moment of thinking.

Naruto and Sakura turned to look at him with a hint of curiosity and confusion; both wondered what he was talking about. Even Kakashi was curious what the young Uchiha prodigy had understood of his test.

"The point was not about the bells and who would pass at all, but about teamwork! It's like sensei said: We were meant to work together to get the bells, because alone we couldn't have done it."

Kakashi nodded his head, proving his deduction was correct. He discreetly shot a look at Naruto who was stroking his chin with his hand, nodding his head as he listened to his teammate.

"Does this mean even Naruto gets to be in the team?" asked Sakura somewhat hopefully. Any other time Sasuke would have thought he was dreaming, but he knew that having a guy like Naruto with them would make things a lot easier.

"Yes, Sakura," answered Kakashi, possibly widening his smile under that mask of his. It was hard to tell. "So, Naruto. What was your plan, if you don't mind telling me?"

Naruto was taken aback by the question, but answered anyway after a second or two. "Well, you already witnessed it. After you went down for the count I was going to take bells and that would've been it." He glanced at his teammates briefly before adding. "It seems they understood what I was planning and acted accordingly."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the simplicity of the plan, then asked something that was obviously bothering him. "What did you mean when you said you were an expert in getting fatally distracted?"

Naruto's eyes filled with deep longing as he started remembering something from his past. Sasuke also noticed that he was guarding his right leg behind the other one for some reason.

"I have suffered the consequences for my ignorance and stupidity in the past," he replied simply, moving the leg to front again.

To their shock, he dropped to one knee and lifted up his pant leg from his right leg enough for them to see something horrifying. Sakura gasped loudly when she saw it; Kakashi on the other hand only raised his eyebrow. Sasuke himself stayed quiet, pondering what kind of a place Naruto had lived in.

There was a big, diagonal bite mark on his shin that was easily visible since it prevented leg hair from growing, leaving a line of barren spots. The size of the individual scars showed how large the teeth had been and suggested that they had penetrated all the way to the bone, biting through flesh like paper. The bite had obviously been very painful and traumatic for the boy. One couldn't help wondering what kind of a creature Naruto had faced to have such long-lasting marks and survive.

"It has been almost four years since that day," Naruto said solemnly as he covered his leg again. He turned around and stared at the sky, deep in thought. "It's a miracle I even survived the gorgonopsid's bite."

"The what now?" asked Kakashi, curious to learn more. Considering Naruto was a total enigma to everybody, this was more than understandable.

"The thing that bit me," Naruto clarified, turning back to face them. "I didn't listen to mom's warning to stay close and wandered too far away. If it wasn't for her, I would have died then and there."

No one said a word for a long while, until Kakashi decided to get them back on track.

"Well then, I'd like to show you something. Follow me!"

* * *

><p>Kakashi led them to the memorial stone, explaining how the names of all the ninjas who died in action were etched on it, including his old teammates. The stone was vaguely kunai-shaped and black with lots of names written on it.<p>

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash," he told them. He explained how he lived by those words. It also explained why he demanded teamwork from his students above all else. He also mentioned how he had failed every team of hopefuls before them, because they lacked teamwork.

Kakashi told them to meet back at the training ground the next day for their first task as an official genin team. After that he left to report of the team's success, leaving the three alone yet again.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end of that.<strong>

**I just know someone is going to ask this, so I'll explain: OK, you are probably thinking why Lightning didn't heal the wound with magic. The answer is: she did, but he would still need medical attention after that. The gorgonopsid bit down all the way to the bone and cure could only heal enough to let him survive, leaving behind a bloody scar. Like he said, it's a miracle he survived (you know, he was probably in a shock and all).**

**And raging Kakashi fans: please, understand that he was unprepared for a headbutt and was too cocky to consider such a tactic. Basically he let his guard down and paid for it. Simple as that. Now, put down the pitchforks and torches!**

**Till next time, people!**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally Naruto would have arrived just after Kakashi.**


	7. The Mission

**And good day to you all!**

**Current status is over 5200 hits and 37 favorites.**

**I might as well confess something: My knowledge of Naruto comes from the Abridged Series and hundreds (if not thousands) of fanfics. I am not actually a fan, and only followed the manga from the start of the kage meeting to Naruto meeting Kushina. What other info I use I get from Narutopedia. Bet you weren't expecting that!**

**Demon Brothers fans (those exist?) beware! Anticlimax ahoy!**

* * *

><p>The MissionThe Journey Abroad

_"Is there any better mission for us?"_

* * *

><p>It had been a whole month since Team Seven had officially become a genin team. For all this time they had done nothing more than meager D-rank missions - and the term "mission" was used very lightly here. Apparently these were supposed help the team work better together, but not one of them understood how it worked. These weren't missions for ninjas; these were chores for everyday people!<p>

This was the reason the team now stood in the mission assignment room after returning a pesky, little cat to an old woman. They had chased the damn thing for two hours and had finally caught it, only to now finally realise why it ran away in the first place. The lady hugged the cat tightly in delight, smothering it against her chest while the animal tried to desperately get away. After paying she left, but everyone present knew the cat would return to haunt the village soon enough. It was shocking how the cat hadn't been in an unfortunate "accident" yet.

The room itself was a huge, open space with six windows and a high ceiling with two stick-like lights. There was a long table where the Hokage and some other ninjas sat at, distributing missions to teams and other ninjas.

Now it was time for a new assignment, something Team Seven was not so eager for.

* * *

><p>"Good job catching that cat, Kakashi!" the Hokage congratulated. He was an old man, wearing a white robe and a large hat. His name was Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Next up there's-"<p>

"Hokage, sir!" Naruto interrupted rudely, speaking to the village leader for the first time in his life. He had always stayed silent when Team Seven had been here, refusing to look anyone in the eye.

Kakashi wondered what was going on in his head. His interruption earned many angry stares from other ninjas present, while the Hokage himself seemed only curious.

"Is there any better mission for us?" Naruto asked, glancing at his teammates who nodded. "Picking weeds and painting fences really isn't suited for ninjas like us."

Sarutobi gave them a smile and a light chuckle. He whispered something to the ninja next to him who hurried out of the room. "I believe I have just the mission for you. A C-rank one."

"Lord Hokage, are you sure of this?" asked Kakashi, worried. "Surely there is some D-rank mission we-" His students gave him a mean glare, and he shut up. No point in arguing, especially with the Hokage.

A moment later the ninja came back, followed by an old man. He sat down next to the Hokage, while the man stood next to Team Seven, drinking his sake and even reeking of it. The man had grey hair, spectacles and a mustache. He wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head. Not a local, that much was obvious.

"These guys are supposed to my bodyguards?" the man asked, incredulous. He eyed every one of them with surprise and doubt. "Kids? You can't be serious!"

To their credit, none of his students reacted with more than an angry look. Kakashi had expected them to start spewing insults and angry comments; so different from the previous teams he had failed.

"Rookies they might still be," said the Hokage, "but Kakashi here is an experienced jounin. I have no doubt that they'll protect you."

Kakashi nodded, flattered by the praise. "What is our mission then, if I may ask, Lord Hokage?"

"You are to escort Tazuna here to Land of Waves and help him finish his bridge."

"That's it?" Kakashi was more than surprised that their mission was that simple. At least it didn't seem that difficult and as a C-rank mission the worst they might encounter were bandits, but a ninja was always supposed to be ready for anything.

"That's it, Kakashi. You can leave as soon as you are ready. Good luck!"

Kakashi bowed curtly and led his team outside with Tazuna in tow. They made quick plans to meet outside the village gates the next morning, after which they would start their trek to Land of Waves.

Hopefully, Tazuna would be sober by then.

* * *

><p>Naruto paced around, agitated. It was almost noon and there was no sign of Kakashi or Tazuna. What was the point of telling people to meet in a specific place at a specific time when he wasn't going to be there on time himself? It was shocking how a man like him was a jounin.<p>

"Naruto, stop that!" Sakura yelled. She was leaning on a big rock some fifteen meters from the gates; while Sasuke sat on top of it, staring into the distance silently. "It's annoying!"

"And so are you!" Naruto retorted, stopping his pacing to face the pink haired banshee. Why did she have to yell at him every time he did something?

"Both of you, stop it!" shouted Sasuke, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

Naruto said nothing, and neither did Sakura. They stared angrily at each other for a while before turning away. Sakura had the interesting tendency to either bother Sasuke or annoy Naruto. It was like all she did was annoy people in more ways than one.

Nothing happened for a long time before Kakashi and Tazuna finally appeared. Tazuna was carrying a small brown backpack, likely filled with his belongings, but it couldn't possibly have taken them this long to pack. Only two and a half hours late - a new record for Kakashi! Damned idiots, both of them.

"Sorry, we're a bit late!" Kakashi greeted with a wave of his hand and a smile. "Had to wait for Tazuna to sober up."

Naruto could already feel in his bones that Sakura was but a moment away from screaming at their teacher. Thankfully Sasuke had the foresight to stop her from yelling when he jumped down from the rock. There was no doubt anyone would have done the same if they knew her. It was like doing the world a favor.

"Are you sure these kids are really ninjas?" asked Tazuna, still in doubt. What was with the old man, anyways? Why did he even need ninjas to build a bridge?

"They are," Kakashi replied simply. "The best the village has to offer! You don't have to worry about your safety one bit."

"I hope you're right."

Naruto eyed the old man, his suspicions rising. There was something he wasn't telling, that much was clear, but there was no way to prove it right now. He was sure Kakashi at least had noted, and Sasuke also. Sakura wouldn't notice anything if it didn't concern "her" Sasuke. Why she had graduated, he'd never know - then again, who was he to talk?

"All right, team! Let's go!" Kakashi exclaimed.

* * *

><p>They had traveled for three or four hours nonstop, yet to Sasuke it felt like an eternity. He was bored as hell with nothing to really do.<p>

Kakashi and Tazuna were discussing something, walking at the front of the group. Sakura was quietly walking next to him, too tired to try hitting on him. Just behind them walked Naruto, silent as usual. None of them had spoken for hours, having nothing to talk about or being too bored for it. At least the adults were having a good time.

As they went on, Sasuke noticed something weird further down the dirt road: two puddles of water. It hadn't rained in weeks, which meant the water should have evaporated ages ago; unless someone had dumped a large amount of water here recently, no more than five minutes ago at best. It was highly suspicious, but Sasuke decided not to mention about it, trusting that if this was indeed an ambush Kakashi would notice it.

When they were only five meters from the puddles, Sasuke noticed a tiny shift in Kakashi's stance. He tensed and glanced around furtively, preparing to engage any attackers that might reveal themselves. Tazuna remained oblivious, not realising the jounin was expecting an immediate ambush.

"Guys, I need to tie up my shoelaces!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, lagging behind. "I'll catch up in a moment."

The group stopped just before reaching the puddles and turned to look at him. He dropped to one knee and began to fiddle with his boots several meters away from them.

"Okay, Naruto." Kakashi sighed, likely worrying about Naruto's safety in case the ambush did happen. "Don't take too long!"

Naruto gave a thumbs up, and the others continued to walk.

It didn't take more than a second or two before Sasuke felt Sakura tap his shoulder and whisper something to him. It was not some attempt to flirt with him but something that made his eyes widen. "Uhh, Sasuke, Naruto doesn't have shoelaces."

Immediately Sasuke's own mind realised that Naruto's boots had a strap or two, but no shoelaces. Next it reminded him how obvious it was that the puddles weren't natural; how even Sakura had eyed them with suspicion. Then it concluded that Naruto was planning to attack their ambushers from behind.

Sasuke turned around instantly, just in time to witness two ninjas do the impossible and rise up from the shallow puddles.

"Ambush!" he yelled and drew a kunai from his pouch. Behind him Sakura and Kakashi did the same, pushing Tazuna behind them to better protect him.

The ninjas had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. They wore a rebreather that covered the lower half of their faces and a large, clawed gauntlet on one of their arms with a long chain connecting to the gauntlet worn by the other in the opposite arm. They also wore a camouflage suit with bandages around their waists and dark-colored, knee-length sandals. One wore a ragged black cape, while the other had several pouches around his waist. They wore headbands with the symbol of Kiri on them, with the caped one having a single horn on it, while the other had two.

They charged forward without a word, until suddenly:

_Bang!_

Everyone froze, wondering what the sound was and where it came from.

Then the cape wearing ninja collapsed face first onto the dirt, blood pooling around his head from a hole at the back of it. He was dead quickly and painlessly.

"Brother?" the remaining ninja asked weakly, staring at his partner's still body in horror. "How?" He turned around to see who might have killed him and came to stare directly at the weapon that could kill a man in an instant.

_Bang!_

The last ninja's head snapped back, blood leaking from his ruined eye and staining his face and clothes red. He was dead long before he hit the ground.

Naruto frowned as he lowered his weapon to his side. Now that it was out of its case, they could finally see what it looked like.

The weapon was mostly rectangular in shape and had a part that separated diagonally from the main body near the end, serving as a grip. The thing was mainly black or dark brown in color, while the lower side and the part after the grip were yellow. There was also a red trim on the grip and some other parts.

Naruto turned around and aimed his weapon to the side of road, looking around suspiciously, clearly expecting another ambush.

"Tazuna," Kakashi said as he put away his kunai and turned to face the old man. "These ninjas were obviously after you. Mind telling us why?"

"I-I don't know what you mean!" Tazuna shouted hesitantly, waving his hands in front of him. Kakashi's glare intensified, aided by the glares of the others. "All right, all right. I confess."

Sasuke and Sakura put away their kunai as Tazuna began to explain. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto look at the trees that lined the road for any more assailants, scratching his chin in thought, his weapon holstered.

"My country was somewhat prosperous with the aid of Gato from Gato Company. To increase commerce and trade with other countries, we - together with the other citizens - decided to build a bridge that connects to the mainland, Land of Fire to be specific. However, some criminals and other outlaws got wind of our plan and decided to take over our country when he were halfway done. They do everything they can to stop us from completing the construction, relying on the isolation of Land of Waves to continue their reign of terror. Everyone is too afraid and powerless to stand up against them, which is why I needed your help."

"Why didn't you inform the Hokage then?" asked Kakashi sternly, narrowing his eye. "He could have sent ninjas to liberate you. Not to mention, why did you label this a C-rank mission?"

"Because I had no more money! That's all I could get from Gato without the criminals realising something was amiss. They would have killed us all if any of them even suspected foreigners were coming to help the populace."

"And our presence won't raise any suspicion?"

"Only if you get into an open conflict. If you can help with the bridge, we could lure their leader out of hiding and neutralize him. That would rally the citizens and break the morale of his goons. The only problem is that the leader is an experienced ninja. These two must have been his scouts or some other subordinates."

There was a long silence before Kakashi sighed and turned to his students. "What do you think? Should we continue our mission?"

Sasuke thought about the situation. On the one hand, their client had lied about their mission's details and they were no longer obligated to continue; but on the other hand the lives and freedom of an entire country depended on them. By law they should turn back, but in doing so would let a band of killers and other scum rule unopposed.

"You said it yourself, Kakashi," said Sasuke, making up his mind. "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than that."

"In this case the word 'comrades' refers to innocent citizens," said Sakura, nodding. "We can't just leave them to suffer!"

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Naruto asked, his arms crossed over his chest. He had finally walked back to his team, but hadn't stopped looking around.

Kakashi smiled and nodded, probably thinking how proud of them he was.

"Really?" asked Tazuna, eyes wide in delight and surprise. "Y-you would really help us?"

"Of course," said Kakashi. "Now, let's go."

* * *

><p>It was almost dawn when they reached the boat that would take them to Land of Waves. The rower was another citizen of Wave who had helped Tazuna slip away unseen, and was dressed in virtually the same clothes but with a thicker shirt. He had stayed behind with his boat on a tiny beach, hidden from curious eyes by clever use of the surrounding terrain. In the distance, a thick fog was starting roll in, hiding the barely visible Land of Waves from sight.<p>

"Quickly, everyone! We have to hurry before the fog lifts and their guards can see the boat coming."

The rower pushed the boat off the beach as he explained further details. He told them how the fog wouldn't last long and that they needed to be on the other side on the double. There was no time to waste here.

"Quickly now!"

Team Seven climbed onto the boat after Tazuna and the rower, taking their seats quietly, anxious to get going. Every moment they spent on the way to the shore increased the chances of someone seeing them and destroying their transportation, along with them most likely.

Slowly the boat began to move forward, the rower doing his best to minimize the amount of noise they would make. According to him, there was no telling how many people were guarding the shores, which was why he had instructed everyone to stay quiet.

To the south, a large, incomplete bridge could be seen. Tazuna said it was his bridge, halfway done like he had explained previously. It would take weeks to complete or, considering the circumstances, at least a month.

Some time later the rower slowed down further and whispered, "We are nearing the shore. Get ready to jump off." He was looking around nervously, watching for any signs of patrolling sentries.

The boat hit the rocky bottom with a slight bump, and immediately Team Seven was out, making sure the area was safe. The covering fog was already starting to lift, leaving them in the open soon.

"I'll hide the boat and sneak back into the town," the rower told Tazuna as the latter jumped off. "Good luck and be safe!"

"You, too!"

Team Seven and their charge left the man and his boat alone in a hurry, disappearing into the woods that made up a large part of the country's ecosystem. They still had a long trek ahead of them, unknown dangers lurking behind every corner.

* * *

><p><strong>Done! Sheesh, that took surprisingly long now that school's on again. Oh, how I hate it.<strong>

**How did you like the changes I made to the Wave Arc? Didn't want it to be like it almost always is, so I figured: if Danzo is a good guy then why not Gato, too?**

**Anyways, I think I can write the next chapter before 13-2 comes out. Hopefully the next one after that if I'm quick.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally Zabuza would've attacked the boat with the water dragon bullet technique and thrown everyone over board. It would've also revealed that Naruto can't swim.**


	8. The Country

**Hello again!**

**Status is now over 10200 hits and 64 favorites.**

**Yes, I know it's a bit late, but school decided to suck more than usual. At least 13-2 is out now. Got the Nordic Edition on the first of February (Hah! Take that, rest of Europe!), finished it on 5th and platium'd on 25th (fucking Serendipity)!**

**It's surprisingly disappointing, to say the least: the gameplay is much better, yes, but the plot manages to be much weaker. And do _NOT _mention the ending! *Headdesk* And the Sequel Hook is a magnetically accelerated kick to the _balls_! With metal boots! With spikes on them! Coated with neurotoxins!**

**In a nutshell: better gameplay, weaker story, great beginning, shitty ending, paradigm pack is limited to 3 monsters, you can barely have any accessories, Lightning is barely even an extra, environments are great, Noel and Caius' backstories are interesting, the music is mostly nice (especially on Dying World), many important abilities are missing, the loading screen has a far better logo.**

**In a** **smaller nutshell: An OK game that improves many things but nonetheless still manages to let you down.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The CountryThe Misery Of The People

_"These days it can't get any worse."_

* * *

><p>"How long till the village?" asked Kakashi calmly.<p>

They had traveled for an hour now, yet their destination didn't seem to get any closer - like walking in circles nonstop. The trees were a horribly uninteresting sight; the same kind grew everywhere in the world, after all.

"Half an hour at best," said Tazuna, his eyes scanning every bush, every tree and every shadow. He had obviously grown used to being extra careful when walking in the woods. "Maybe a bit longer if we run into a patrol or something."

Naruto kept quiet as Sasuke and Sakura joined the conversation, asking questions about their opposition. He kept his right hand firmly on the grip of his gunblade - Flamberge, it was called. He had not lived over three years on Gran Pulse to simply forget all the survival instincts that had been pounded into his head, some quite literally. Fortunately, this world had none of the creatures that inhabited Gran Pulse, and for that he was grateful.

"There is a small lake not far from here," explained Tazuna, pointing forward where the treeline began to clear out. "We must move quickly and with care. Who knows what kind of people are around."

The conversation died out instantly after that.

They entered the clearing swiftly, covering all angles. There was no one present, but that was bound to change in a moment. Kakashi subtly looked from side to side, looking for a perfect place for an enemy to launch an attack. Naruto noted how Kakashi grabbed a kunai, but didn't draw it out yet, waiting for their opponent to make the first move. Sasuke had apparently noticed the same and reached for a kunai of his own.

"This place is ideal for an ambush," whispered Tazuna, stating the obvious like he'd get money out of it. He shifted his hat a bit, moving the rim higher to see better.

As the others slowed down, preparing themselves for battle, Naruto took this as his cue to use a different approach. Slowly, he detached himself from the group and moved backwards to a better spot without anyone noticing.

A big sword thrown by an unseen assailant was all he needed to hide behind a thick tree.

* * *

><p>The sword slammed into ground right where Tazuna would have stood if Sakura hadn't pushed him out of the way. It was a massive broadsword shaped like a giant butcher knife with two cut outs, a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer the handle. It's tip had dug into the ground all way to the first cut out; a proof of the thrower's great physical strength.<p>

"You managed to dodge it? An admirable feat!"

"Show yourself!" Kakashi demanded, drawing the kunai at last. He searched for the source of the voice, trying to pinpoint their attacker. The sword had been flung from a tall tree near the water's edge, but the voice seemed to originate from a bush to their left.

Quickly looking backwards to check if everyone was safe, Kakashi noticed that Naruto had disappeared without a trace. How was it possible that a genin, who had barely graduated, was capable of vanishing without anyone noticing? One would think that a boy in a white coat and red cape would stand out, but _no_!

"Get Tazuna to safety!" he ordered, preparing to lift up his headband the instant their attacker revealed himself. "Now!"

"I can't let you do that!"

"Kakashi, watch out!" Sasuke yelled as he and Sakura pushed Tazuna out of the clearing. Kakashi didn't have to turn around to see what he meant.

"I'll take this," the attacker said, landing next his sword. He was a tall and muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He was wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. He wore baggy pants with the striped pattern and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. Interestingly, he was shirtless and wore the headband of Kiri on his forehead.

Kakashi's eye widened as he realised who his opponent was. "Zabuza Momochi! I should have known it was you after I recognized the Demon Brothers."

"Copy Ninja Kakashi!" Zabuza said with delight. He took the sword by its handle and easily lifted it off the ground with one hand. "It is an honor to finally meet you in battle."

"The feeling is not mutual."

"Just give me the old man and I promise I'll let you leave unopposed." Zabuza's eyes narrowed at Kakashi as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," replied Kakashi, lifting his headband to reveal his sharingan. As long as he could keep Zabuza occupied, Sasuke and Sakura could take Tazuna to safety. All he needed to do was to make sure the missing-nin didn't go after them. With some luck, he could neutralize Zabuza.

Zabuza charged, desiring to make Kakashi a head shorter; while the Copy Ninja readied his kunai to at least redirect the blows.

* * *

><p>They ran as fast as they could, weaving around trees and other obstacles. They were circling the lake while keeping themselves in the woods to avoid detection. Their plan was to hide on the other side of the lake while Kakashi faced the missing-nin.<p>

Sasuke still wasn't too sure of the plan, especially when Naruto was nowhere to be found, but what alternative did they have? Continue onward to the village? What if Kakashi failed to defeat his opponent, what then? The man was clearly the experienced ninja Tazuna spoke of; proven by how Tazuna shook like a leaf when he saw him.

"Do you think Kakashi will be all right?" asked Sakura fearfully.

"He'd better be or Land of Waves won't live past this day," Tazuna said solemnly. He was clearly almost out of breath by now.

Sasuke almost halted when he heard a twig snap somewhere nearby, but decided against it, knowing that stopping right now would be unwise. Whether or not there was another attacker was not his primary concern at the moment. He was confident that he and Sakura could protect the old man.

They arrived to a clearing on the other side of the lake a moment later. They stopped to take a breather, staying near the edge of the treeline in case they needed to run away again.

"Look!" shouted Sakura, pointing towards the center of the lake where Kakashi was fighting against the other ninja, both standing on the water's surface. At the moment Kakashi seemed to be holding his own, even pushing his opponent back at times. However, that big cleaver was giving him a hard time.

"He should be OK for now," Sasuke said, observing how the jounin dodged deadly sword swings.

* * *

><p>Kakashi ducked to avoid yet another attack from Zabuza, barely avoiding the blade as it sailed past. He didn't have time to react to the kick that followed, sending him a good meter or two backwards. He recovered just in time to sidestep another swing that threatened to bisect him from head to groin.<p>

_Not going well_, Kakashi thought as he brought up his kunai to block the next horizontal swing. Thankfully, Zabuza had far too little momentum to successfully break past his flimsy attempt at blocking such a large weapon. At least neither of them had had an opportunity to use any techniques.

With his sharingan continuously draining his chakra reserves at a steady pace, Kakashi was frantically trying to come up with a plan. He couldn't beat Zabuza in taijutsu, didn't want to try his luck with ninjutsu in this situation, and didn't know any genjutsu worth using. He was screwed if this went on.

Zabuza relented his attack suddenly, leaving Kakashi to stagger forward. Again he recovered quickly, expecting yet another attempt to separate his head from his body, but none came. Zabuza jumped away from him, landing some meters away, and raised his left hand above him, while his right moved in front of his chin. Kakashi tensed, recognizing the technique and it's purpose immediately. His eyes widened as he peered over his opponent's shoulder and saw his students and Tazuna watching them on the far shore.

He knew where this was going.

A thick mist sprang forth, hiding the chuckling Demon of the Hidden Mist from sight while he went to kill the old bridge builder. Kakashi ran after him despite losing sight of his target, hoping to stop him in time. This blasted mist was a disadvantage only to him, however; Zabuza was skilled enough to easily avoid detection as long as it remained.

His danger senses flared suddenly and instinctively he crouched right in time to avoid Zabuza's cleaver. His kunai sliced into his attacker who, to his disappointment, turned into water from the attack. Kakashi spun around and threw the kunai to another water clone's face just as it charged forth from the mist. He stabbed a third clone with a second kunai when it tried to attack from behind him, then kicked the legs from under a fourth one. A stab to the throat later the clone dissolved into water.

It seemed Zabuza had created a good dozen water clones to keep him occupied while he went to murder Tazuna under the cover of the mist.

Yet another clone attacked and was met with a fatal kunai slash.

"Two can play this game," whispered Kakashi as he formed the necessary hand seal for his technique.

* * *

><p>Zabuza made his way through the mist he had created, rushing towards the old man and his little genin protectors, intending to cut them all down in one swipe of his sword. It was a simple plan, and there was no one to stop him now that Kakashi was fighting his clones. When the old man was finally dead the rest of this pathetic country would quickly lose all the will defy him.<p>

He charged out of the mist and into the clearing like a bloodthirsty demon - quite suitable considering his moniker. He could see the fearful expressions on their faces as he came into view, and it filled him with pleasure to know that they would also die like that. The raven haired boy quickly went through different hand seals and exhaled a big fireball; all the while his pink haired teammate tried to get away with the bridge builder.

Zabuza jumped to the side and let the fireball speed past him and into the mist, feeling the intense heat on his skin. Without wasting another second he resumed his charge. Oh, how he enjoyed the hopelessness that saturated the air around his soon-to-be victims.

The boy tried to stop him, but was instantly slammed to the side by Demon of the Hidden Mist. He fell to the ground and was instantly out of the fight. Within the span of two seconds Zabuza had done the same to the female teammate, sending her face first to the dirt so hard she hit the side of her head on a rock, blood seeping out of a nasty gash on her head.

Now, it was just the two of them - Zabuza and his target. One good strike with Kubikiribouchou was all he needed to decapitate the frightened old man and end his suffering. Then he would make sure no one had the guts to stand up to him, and if Konoha sent people to search for Kakashi and his team - well, they would be too late to find anyone.

Suddenly, a ball of water hit him in the face, blinding him and stopping his charge. He stopped to wipe the water from his face, only to get hit two more times in a quick succession. He jumped backwards to wipe it off. What a weak technique, he noted, only useful for a minor distraction.

With his face wiped clean, Zabuza instinctively swung his sword around him in a circle. He caught Kakashi in the gut as he got closer, cleaving him in two, but to his disappointment the body turned to water. It seemed Copy Ninja Kakashi was worthy of his name.

"Now, where was I?" Zabuza grinned under his bandages as turned to face the old man, cleaving a second clone apart as he did. "Oh, yeah! I remember now."

"Stop right there, Zabuza!"

Sighing in annoyance, Zabuza spun around again with his cleaver ready to slice up the irritating ninja. Kakashi had just emerged from mist, panting heavily, his cursed sharingan staring into his very soul. His exhaustion was very noticeable.

"Ahh, Kakashi! Did you think your little distraction and clones would stop me?" Zabuza chuckled as he dismissed the mist, cursing his opponent's name in his head. This was supposed to be a simple massacre, not a boring battle against another A-rank ninja. He wasn't expecting this when he personally found, interrogated and killed the man who had brought the Konoha ninjas here.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw his students lying on the ground and drew a kunai. He charged forward, barely avoiding the Kubikiribouchou's blade as it sailed past his head.

"How stupid of you, Copy Ninja!" mocked Zabuza, grabbing the kunai arm with his unarmed one. He tried to slam the blade to Kakashi's side, but the cursed copycat blocked and held it in place thanks to the lack of momentum. "Do you really think you can win against me, you weakling?"

"Not alone," Kakashi confessed, smiling weakly under that mask of his. "Did you forget a genin team consists of a jounin-sensei and _three_ students? I think you missed one!" He shifted his weight to the side and spun them both around to get himself between Zabuza and the old man.

Zabuza was instantly alert, his head moving from left to right in search of the missing genin. He couldn't imagine missing one, just one inexperienced brat. This was clearly not a bluff, that much was clear. No matter, though; a fresh genin couldn't stand a chance against someone like him. He charged at Kakashi again, confident that his pathetic attempt to distract the Demon of the Hidden Mist was nothing more than that - a distraction.

They clashed again, Kubikiribouchou grinding against the much smaller kunai. Kakashi's strength was already failing him; his sharingan was too draining for him and he would collapse soon. Just as planned.

"Any day now, Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as Zabuza began to push his blade harder against the kunai.

_Bang!_

Zabuza's eyes widened; he had barely registered the sound when he felt great pain in his left arm, the one pushing the blade. He almost dropped the sword in shock as he stepped backwards and let Kakashi do the same. He looked at a heavily bleeding wound that had simply appeared on his arm. It was an almost circular hole straight through his arm that barely missed his bones; this was done by no blade.

Zabuza had never seen anything like this.

"Thanks for ruining my shot, jackass!" a young male voice shouted from the bushes to Zabuza's left. He wasn't sure if the words were directed at him or the Copy Ninja, but he knew that this was the missing student Kakashi had mentioned. A blond boy no older than sixteen came into view pointing a strange metal weapon at him. Zabuza noted the youth's interesting outfit, a white overcoat with a red cape, and wondered if the boy thought he was some sort of hero out of a fairy tale. He also noticed the obvious lack of a blade or something that could have caused his wound.

"Where have you been?" asked the raven haired boy as he picked himself off the ground. He picked up the kunai he had dropped and faced Zabuza.

"I guess the tables are turned, Zabuza," Kakashi said, his eyes narrowing. A bit to the side, the girl was also starting to stand up again, holding her head where she had hit the rock. She, too, had her kunai ready.

Zabuza knew he had lost and that he couldn't possibly win anymore.

As Kakashi and his students came closer, Zabuza decided upon the next course of action.

He fled.

* * *

><p>Furious, Sasuke watched as Zabuza bolted from the clearing and disappeared into the woods. He was still too dazed from blow to the head to give chase and so was Sakura, who collapsed on her butt and pressed her hand on her head wound. Bleeding had thankfully stopped so she wasn't in any immediate danger.<p>

"Great job, Kakashi!" Naruto growled as he holstered his weapon. "If you hadn't attacked I could have shot him and ended him right then and there."

"Well, you still got him, didn't you?" Kakashi's voice was tired and he was panting heavily. He didn't seem to be in the mood to argue; he even refused turn his head enough to look at Naruto.

"I was aiming at his head, dammit!" Naruto screamed angrily.

Kakashi sighed and replaced his headband on his eye. His hands were rubbing his temples as if a sudden headache had got to him. He appeared drained, exhausted from the battle - not that Sasuke could blame him. Sasuke also wondered why he hid his eye under his headband if he could use it after all; maybe he would ask about that later on.

"I believe we should go now," said Tazuna nervously, gathering the shreds of his courage. "If we hurry we can still get to my house before anyone else finds us."

"Lead the way, then-en..." Kakashi barely finished his sentence when he collapsed, unconscious. Exhaustion had finally caught up to him.

Sasuke acted quickly and caught him before he hit the grass face first. To his surprise Tazuna helped him keep the jounin upright.

"Let me carry him," he said and positioned Kakashi so his arm was placed around the old man's neck for support.

"Are you sure you can do that, old timer?"

Tazuna offered a small smile in return. "This is the least I can do for you right now. You did save my life after all."

"If you say so." Sasuke reluctantly let go of Kakashi's other arm and let Tazuna carry him. It was strange to see the jounin in such a vulnerable state, but there was no time think about trivial things.

Naruto walked to Sakura's side and crouched down. Sakura was still holding her head when she looked at him, her face pale and ill.

"You all right?" asked Naruto without any hint of worry in his voice.

"I can manage," Sakura whispered, unsure of her own voice. She pressed her arm against her forehead and sighed deeply.

"Come on then," Naruto encouraged and stood up. He offered his hand to Sakura who took it and pulled herself off the ground. Naruto nodded curtly and walked away, leaving her to stand there by herself.

"Shall we go then?" asked Tazuna after he made sure Kakashi wouldn't fall to the ground.

Sasuke briefly considered saying "no", but decided not to. That's not what Kakashi would have wanted, especially with Zabuza still at large. He first looked at Sakura and made sure she was in the condition to walk all the way to Tazuna's house, then at Naruto who was staring intensely into the direction Zabuza had run off to, looking for any signs of him.

"Let's go," he said.

* * *

><p>Kakashi woke up an unknown amount of time later. His head was pounding and his vision refused to focus enough for him to make out the details of the room he was in. He'd never guessed his chakra exhaustion would have been this bad.<p>

"Where am I?" he asked and sat up, groaning. He looked around for a moment, willing the headache to at least lessen so he could walk. He then stood up and headed for the door that he barely made out. "Are my students here?"

Kakashi slowly began to slide the door open and immediately fell over. He had trouble breathing as he dragged himself forward, pushing the door open. He forced himself onward, ignoring how his head felt like it was hit with a hammer and how his vision was so blurry he didn't know which way was up.

He heard footsteps on the wooden floor, coming his way. He tried to see who it was, but wasn't able to lift his head at all.

"Are you alright?" a disembodied voice asked as he blacked out again.

* * *

><p>"So... Will he be all right?" asked Sakura.<p>

Sasuke nodded curtly, staring at Tazuna and his daughter who had just returned and sat down. They had all been surprised to see Kakashi crawl out of his room and then black out again. He had been taken back in right away and now they were guarding the door in case Kakashi repeated his trick.

The members of Team Seven were seated at a table in Tazuna's house, planning their next course of action. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, had joined them out curiosity and courtesy.

"Do you think Zabuza will find this house?" asked Sasuke after a brief moment of silence.

"Unlikely," said Naruto flatly. "Unless he's been following us or knows where Tazuna lives, it's highly unlikely he can find us here."

"You seem awfully sure of this, kid," Tazuna said nervously. He was looking around and out of the window every now and then.

Naruto let out a quiet chuckle before he replied. "Oh, trust me! With the wound I gave him it'll take at least a few days before he can even swing that sword of his."

Tazuna didn't look reassured one bit, but didn't say anything. He scratched the back of his head and sighed; this was going nowhere.

"Anyways, what should we do now?" asked Sasuke. He felt uneasy hiding in here, but he knew it was all they could do at the moment.

"Wait until the jackass wakes up. He'll figure out something."

"Naruto, don't disrespect Kakashi!" Sakura yelled. She was sitting on Sasuke's left while Naruto sat at the end of the table to their right. Being this close to her when she decided to yell at someone was painfully annoying. She had recovered shockingly fast from her head wound; a simple bandage and an hour of rest later she was like nothing had ever happened.

"What's there to disrespect? Idiot decided to screw up my perfect shot and got hurt. He'd better be sorry when he wakes up!" Naruto rose from his seat suddenly and walked to the front door. "I'll be outside."

"But what about patrols? Who knows how many bad guys are out there. You'll stick out easily!" Tazuna reasoned, or at least tried to.

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine," he said and took off his coat. He seemed reluctant to part with it, but threw it to the table anyways. Without another word he walked out and disappeared from sight. Oddly, he didn't leave his belt and the holster that hung from it.

"I do hope he gets back before dinner," Tsunami said, turning her head towards the kitchen counter.

"Don't worry about him," Sasuke said as he picked up the coat. He couldn't help wondering where Naruto could have gotten it. He didn't have it until after the graduation. "He'll get here when he does. After all, he wouldn't leave his coat behind."

"We wait for Kakashi to wake up, then?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, I suppose we have to."

* * *

><p>No one saw Naruto for the rest of the day. It had been mostly uneventful after that as everyone waited for Kakashi to get better. Sakura and Sasuke did, however, meet Tsunami's son, Inari. The boy had been very skeptical about their chances of ever beating Zabuza and banishing his band of thugs. According to Tazuna, this was a common opinion among the populace.<p>

Kakashi woke up a second time just as the sun was starting to dip behind the horizon. He asked a variety of questions - such as where they were, how everyone was doing and if anyone knew what to do next. He also asked where Naruto had disappeared to and was worried when he heard how he had left the house.

Everyone had returned to sit at the table just like all those hours before. Tsunami had prepared them dinner with the small amount of ingredients she had at her disposal.

"Can I eat in my room?" Kakashi had asked, holding his pounding head in his hands. "I feel ill and think I need to lay down."

"Of course," had been the answer and the man had withdrawn from their presence with a silent acknowledgement.

The weather outside had changed without them even noticing it; from cloudy to a downpour. The water droplets played their sad tune as they hammered the roof and windows, matching the mood quite well.

Suddenly, as the clock neared midnight, someone knocked on the front door.

* * *

><p>Sasuke neared the door slowly, one hand reaching for the doorknob and the other for a kunai. Behind him Tazuna's family retreated to a corner and hid their son behind them for protection. Discreetly, Sakura slipped out of the room to get Kakashi.<p>

Sasuke didn't get any closer than half a meter from the door when it was angrily slammed open. He jumped back in surprise and drew his kunai, only to lower it when he saw who it was.

"Can't you even open a fucking door?" asked Naruto as he walked in and slammed the door shut behind him. "What the hell is wrong with you guys? Do you even know how terrible the weather is? Look outside once in while, will you?"

He was soaking wet and dripped rain water to the floor. He shivered and flinched every other second as he pushed past Sasuke and made his way to the table. He was furiously trying to get his glove off as if it burnt.

"Where have you been?" asked Kakashi as he and Sakura arrived.

"Around," Naruto replied simply. He almost tore the glove off and threw it to the table, groaning as he did. "Aargh! Damn rain!"

Sasuke picked up the thrown glove to examine it. He had never seen anything like it, which seemed to be the norm around Naruto. A normal black, fingerless glove with a strange screen on it, like that of a television or a computer. A truly marvelous thing.

Naruto took the glove from him so quickly he wasn't sure what actually happened. "Hands off, pal. Wouldn't want you to zap yourself."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that and wondered what he meant by that. His eyes soon picked up something worrying on Naruto's left hand - a small burnt area of skin.

"What happened to you?" he asked pointing at the hand.

"Short circuit happened! Damn weather! This thing is _very_ delicate."

Kakashi sighed. "We can talk about the weather later, boys." He was clearly not in the mood to hear any of this. "Right now, I suggest you get some sleep. We can worry more tomorrow."

There was no arguing about that; everyone was tired after a long day. They needed to be ready when Zabuza decided to show his ugly face again. There was no telling how many other dangerous criminals lurked around the next corner.

"So, where's my coat?"

* * *

><p>Kakashi woke up when the first ray of sunlight streamed through the window and hit his exposed eye. He felt much better than he had yesterday, not enough to go fighting against Zabuza just yet, though.<p>

"Good morning!"

Kakashi had to think for a second before recognized the voice; it was Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. He sat up and turned to face her. She was standing by the doorway, wearing her usual clothes.

"Morning," he mumbled, rubbing his eye. He looked to his right to see if his students were awake. To his surprise, they were long gone.

"Your students are waiting for you in the kitchen," Tsunami explained, smiling kindly.

"Oh? Thank you." Kakashi rose up and immediately regretted it. He wobbled and staggered, his vision spun and his head was already starting to pound. Maybe he wasn't as fine as he originally thought.

"Let me help!" Tsunami caught him right before he fell over. She took his arm and placed it over her shoulders to keep him from falling much like Tazuna had done.

"You don't really have to," Kakashi said, but didn't actually trust his own feet to take him out of the room.

"Nonsense! You are here to help our country, so this is the least I can do for you." Tsunami smiled at him, and Kakashi knew there was no point in trying to resist. "Come on then."

She took him to the kitchen where, true to her word, the others were waiting for him. She dropped him to the empty seat at the end of the table and sat down next to her father who seemed very worried.

"So, what's up?" he inquired, noting how focused Sasuke and Sakura looked to his left. He also noted how nonchalant Naruto seemed on the opposite side of the table, even with all his sneezing and shivering that had threatened to keep the whole house awake.

Tazuna let out a sad sigh, moving a sake bottle on the table with his hands. "I think we know how we were tracked down and ambushed yesterday," he explained. He took a small sip before continuing. "One of my buddies came by a few hours ago. Do you remember the man who got us here with his boat?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the question. "Of course I do! Why? Has something happened to him?"

"He was found dead last night," Tazuna answered. "Apparently the ninja you fought against stumbled upon, tortured and killed him. I was told the sight is not pretty one."

"That explains it then," Kakashi mused. He had had a feeling Zabuza couldn't have coincidentally lain in ambush in case a foreigner came ashore.

Suddenly there was a knock on the front door, and everyone was instantly alert. Team Seven jumped from their seats - Kakashi included - while Tazuna took his daughter and hid in the other room.

"Tazuna, are you home?" a nervous voice asked from the other side of the door. Kakashi had a feeling that whoever it was was looking over his shoulders cautiously, as if waiting for someone to jump out of the bushes. "I heard your trip was a success."

Tazuna made his way to the door, gesturing for the ninjas to stand down. "Gato? Is that you?" he asked, almost pressing himself against the door.

"Yes, it's me. Now, please, let me inside."

Tazuna quickly did so, opening the wooden door with speed Kakashi had thought impossible for an old man like him. Team Seven relaxed and sat back down as Tazuna directed the man inside.

The man was a bit short - about a hundred and sixty - and was dressed in a worn suit. He was in his mid-forties, maybe almost fifty.

"These are them?" he asked as he sat down at the table with Tazuna; Tsunami opted to stand out of courtesy.

"Yes," Tazuna answered. "I wasn't able to get anyone else."

Had he been feeling well, Kakashi would have argued that Tazuna should have talked with the Hokage about the situation. Surely an experienced squad of ANBU would have been able to defeat Zabuza easily.

"What brings you here?" asked Kakashi, realizing this was the great Gato Tazuna had spoken of. He didn't seem like a rich, generous man the bridge builder had made him out to be; more like a man who had lost everything, which wasn't that unsurprising considering the circumstances.

"I came to see how things are here," Gato explained, before his expression turned to one of confusion. "I thought you already knew that. After all, I did inform your student about my visit. 'Before noon' is what I said."

Everyone turned to Naruto, the only member of the team to have been outside yesterday. He sneezed loudly and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "What? Do you think I'm in the condition to tell that even if I had remembered?" he said weakly.

Kakashi shook his head. Of course Naruto had to catch a cold at such a critical moment. Wasn't his blatant disrespect, soloing and lack of care enough? This mission was a disaster from start to finish, it seemed.

"Hard to believe it was you who wounded Zabuza," Sasuke said, burying his face in his hand. "Speaking of which, what was your plan in the first place?"

Kakashi, too, was eager to hear it. If he had ruined Naruto's plan like he claimed, he wanted to at least know what it was to avoid repeating his actions later.

"Distract him with water, take careful aim and blast a hole straight through his head." Naruto started sneezing again, more violently than before. "I think I'll go to bed now." With that he left the room and shut the door behind him.

"Water?" asked Sakura, confused. She turned Sasuke and Kakashi who shrugged, just as clueless as he was. They all turned to Tazuna who held his fist against his chin, pondering. Next to him, Gato looked puzzled.

"So it was him, after all," Tazuna said, slowly nodding his head.

"Meaning?" Gato asked, wanting an explanation to their confusion.

"When Zabuza was attacking me, he was hit by these weird water balls. Your clones attacked him a few seconds after that."

"So you're saying Naruto can throw balls made of water?" asked Sasuke, incredulous. "Sounds ridiculous."

"Like how he jumped off the roof and was all right?" Sakura asked in return. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that; he hadn't heard of this before.

"And got to the academy during the last month," Sasuke continued, raising a finger for each point. "Then graduated with the lowest score in years, beat up Kakashi in a fight, killed two experienced missing-nins and wounded Zabuza. There's so much to him that just makes you wonder."

Gato cleared his throat. "Back to the reason I'm here in the first place." He straightened himself on his seat before continuing. "I wanted to ask this: how soon do you think you can hunt down Zabuza? He has most likely alerted every lackey of his to your presence by now. It won't be easy."

Kakashi thought about it for a moment. He was still suffering from the aftereffects of chakra exhaustion and wouldn't fully recover for a few more days. Then there was Naruto's cold and Sakura's nasty head wound. Sasuke had thankfully avoided the worst from the smack to the head. But unless everyone pulled a miracle out their asses and were fine by tomorrow, Kakashi doubted they could go after a snail, let alone an experienced and very dangerous ninja - wounded or not.

"We may have to hide here for some time, I'm afraid," Kakashi answered. "We are not in the condition to fight right now."

"I understand," Gato said and stood up to leave. "Well, I won't waste any more of your time. I wish you all luck! You're going to need it." With one last nod he left the house.

Tsunami took the vacant seat with a sad smile. "Poor Gato. He used go for walks every day and was always greeted by the people. Now, he has to sneak around like a burglar just to have a simple conversation."

"His life must be hard," Sasuke said, staring at the door.

"These days it can't get any worse," Tazuna said.

* * *

><p>Later that same day, Kakashi decided to risk going outside to give his students something to do. Naruto had been left behind with his cold; no reason to worsen his health, after all. If Sakura hadn't insisted on accompanying them, Kakashi would have told her to keep the boy some company. He didn't want to risk her health as well.<p>

"So why are we here again?" Sasuke asked, looking at the tall trees that surrounded the small clearing the country seemed full of.

"You are to practice tree walking," Kakashi answered. If it weren't for the make-shift crutches, Sasuke could have found nothing wrong with him. "It is a chakra exercise that lets you walk on trees, walls and even ceilings by focusing a very precise amount of chakra into your feet."

"What's the point in this anyways? Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"At the moment? No, not really."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He felt like slapping Kakashi right now. In fact, he probably would have done so if Sakura hadn't decided to intervene.

"Sasuke, Kakashi is right," she reasoned. "We can't do anything at this point. Who knows, maybe this can help us when we face off against Zabuza and his goons. When the time comes, we need to use everything at our disposal to win."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and turned to face the girl, great surprise evident on his face. "Sakura, I never knew you could say something that smart!"

Sakura blushed and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, I don't think it was that smart at all, and..."

"No, really!" Sasuke patted her shoulder with a small smile. "Keep it up! Who knows what a genius you really are."

"As much as I enjoy seeing you two talk, there are things to do," Kakashi said. "Now, do as I show you and you'll be fine."

* * *

><p>"Have you informed everyone yet?" Zabuza asked, his patience clearly reaching its limits. He opened the heavy metal door to the basement and led the way into the darkness. A few torches lit the way downstairs.<p>

"Yes, Lord Zabuza!" Haku bowed as deep as he dared. These steps were very slippery and he did not want to embarrass himself in the presence of his master.

"Excellent, Haku. At least there are some people who won't disappoint me. You know how I despise disappointments."

Haku kept quiet; he knew when Zabuza didn't want his input on a subject. Still, it irked him to know how many weaklings dared betray his master's trust. At least there was some use to them, seeing how they had finally managed to find this place.

They entered the room at the bottom of the stairs, leaving the rusty door ajar. The only source of light in this cold place was a single lantern hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. However, it was enough to reveal the metal bars that made up the prison of something far deadlier than a common thug.

"The time is getting near," Zabuza whispered as he got closer to the cage. "Oh, how I've been waiting for this day. So long it took, but it was all worth it."

Haku stared intensely into the darkness, hoping to get a glimpse of the creature Zabuza had found down here. He regretted that he had been on an assignment when his master first came to this place.

"Don't come any closer, Haku," Zabuza said without taking his eyes off the cage. A large, grey skinned hand reached out from the between two bars, trying to grab Haku and pull him in. "Back off, beast!" Zabuza bellowed as he pushed the hand back in. "You can feed all you want when I release you! Soon, beast, soon the day of your freedom will come!"

Haku took an involuntary step back as three more hands appeared and squeezed at the metal bars. Bloodcurdling howling filled the air, and the bars shook, barely keeping themselves intact. He didn't realise he was grinning like a madman until Zabuza started laughing.

"Yes! With him by our side, no one can stand before us!"

* * *

><p><strong>And on that ominous note, I end this chapter. Holy shit that took me a long time!<strong>

**The next chapter is a lot more combat filled and focuses on the fight against Zabuza on the bridge. Our mysterious 3rd combatant was made because I needed Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura to do something during the fight and random mooks really didn't cut it.**

**And raging Kakashi fans: Zabuza's plan was to make him waste his chakra with the sharingan. It was a logical and easy plan, one that only needed him to keep the jounin occupied until exhaustion overcame him. Seriously, you don't need to start going through 44 (no joke) hand seals for the water dragon bullet technique and hope your opponent does the exact same thing.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally Naruto would have met Haku like always. Then they would have made plans to fake their fight which would have ended in both of them throwing each other off the bridge. After that, Haku would have changed his clothes and joined Team Seven as they returned to Konoha.**


	9. The Bridge

**Sorry for delays, but internet problems are not fun, not to mention exams in school. I also kinda got addicted to Cursed Treasure and got busy following a good dozen different LPs... Yeah...**

**Status is now: 14200 hits, C2 2, favorites 80, alerts 72.**

**Before we begin I'll reveal the identity of the mysterious 3rd combatant. No, it's not an FF monster. He is based on David from InFamous DC comics. No, I don't actually have a physical copy of the comics, just the info on wikia. Speaking of wikia, his skin color is said to be purple, but in the pictures it looks grey which is why I'm going with it.**

**Reason for his appearance? Well, Naruto's outfit is already based on Cole's hero clothes, so I thought: "Why the fuck not?"**

**OK, now that that's out of the way, let's begin!**

* * *

><p>The BridgeThe Battle For Freedom

"_I must say, this bridge is quite something._"

* * *

><p>"I'm taking them to see the bridge," Tazuna said as he led Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura out of the door. "We'll be back in ten, maybe fifteen minutes."<p>

"Be careful out there!" Tsunami yelled after them as the door closed. She had just started cleaning the table after dinner when her father had decided to make a trip to the bridge despite the danger.

"And off they go," Naruto said. He was sitting on the chair closest to the front door and was leaning on the table, his expression as uncaring as usual. "Won't be long before trouble follows."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

The boy turned slightly to look over his shoulder. "If this place is as full of bad guys as you said, then it shouldn't be that big of a stretch. One guy notices them and he goes to alert his boss. A week is more than enough time to recover from a gunshot wound. Just wait and see!"

Tsunami felt unsure, her faith in her father's safety severely shaken. She was glad Inari wasn't home at the moment; the poor boy had gone through enough already. "Can't you go help them?"

"When we're sure they are in trouble, then yes." The boy leaned off the table as Tsunami got closer with the rag. "Otherwise no. "

"I really hope it doesn't come to that," Tsunami muttered.

"You ain't the only one."

* * *

><p>Inari slammed the front door open in a hurry, Gato right behind him. They didn't even bother closing the door behind them.<p>

"Inari? What's wrong?" his mother asked, worried. The blond ninja from Konoha was with her, sitting at the table while she was washing the dishes.

"Grandpa's in trouble!" Inari yelled, rushing to his mother's side. "We saw a thug spying on them when we were heading this way. He has probably informed his boss by now!"

"What?!"

"Like I said," the blond boy noted when he stood up from his seat and headed for the other room, "trouble."

"Where are you going? Grandpa is in trouble! And so are your friends!" Inari couldn't hold back his anger for the boy any longer. For the whole week, he hadn't even lifted a finger to help the people. He didn't show any interest in the situation, no sympathy for the people who had to suffer daily; he couldn't possibly understand any of it. Just like every other foreigner who had turned a blind eye to the situation.

"I have no friends! And what do you think I'm doing? I need my gear before I go." With one last angry look he closed the door behind him.

"You should have been with them already! You-"

"Inari, stop it!" Gato interrupted sternly as he took a seat at the table. "He's going to help your grandfather, don't worry."

"But he-"

"Gato's right, Inari," Tsunami said. "He will help them when gets ready. Now, stop yelling at him, he's doing what he can for us!"

Inari didn't say anything after that, opting to sit down on a chair just like the others. He felt useless, more so than he usually did. When he went to the town every day for whatever reasons, he always felt like he should have done something to help others, to drive back those who would make them suffer. Of course, he couldn't do any of that; he was just a kid.

The door slid open again, and the boy stepped out with a look of annoyance on his face. He was in the middle of adjusting the collar of his overly big overcoat when he spoke, "Well, I'm off!" He headed straight for the door without sparing them another glance.

"Good luck!" Tsunami and Gato shouted as the boy opened the door and stepped outside. He gave them a curt nod before the door closed and he disappeared from view.

They sat in silence, all three of them, until Gato stood up and picked up his walking cane. He had a look of determination on his face, one unlike any Inari had seen before.

"Gato? Where are you going?" Tsunami asked, curious.

"To do what should have been done ages ago." Gato stopped in front of the door and turned to face them. "This is a perfect time for it. The ninjas are fighting against Zabuza - as is your father. He can't be here at the same time."

"What are you getting at?"

"An uprising!" Gato grinned when he saw their shocked expressions. "We finally have a chance to drive out the invaders. If everyone in the village takes up arms against them and the ninjas can eliminate Zabuza, we can finally regain our freedom."

"This nightmare would be over at last," Inari whispered as he realised what he could do. He wouldn't have to feel useless any longer, not when he knew that he had helped free his country. He could still redeem himself.

"Kaiza's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain," Tsunami said, staring at an old picture hanging on the wall.

Inari remembered clearly the day his stepfather had come into his life. He had fallen off a pier and would have drowned if Kaiza hadn't come to his rescue. Kaiza had taught him much about life and had eventually married his mother. All was well, until the criminals invaded, and Kaiza was publicly executed for trying to fight back.

"This is the time for action!" Gato declared and swiftly exited the house.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Inari jumped off his seat and ran after him, but his mother caught him by his arm.

"Inari! Where do you think you're going?!" she asked, her eyes wide from shock.

"To help him, of course!" He struggled against Tsunami's grip but wasn't able to break free. "He's right, and I can't afford to just sit in a corner and cry when I should act! I'm going whether you like it or not!"

Slowly and unsurely, Tsunami let go of him. "Just be careful, OK?"

Inari smiled and nodded. He ran out of the door a second later, catching up to Gato in a few seconds.

* * *

><p>"I must say, this bridge is quite something," Kakashi said as he peered over the edge. The drop was pretty long, at least ten or so meters, and the currents seemed very strong at the moment. He doubted anyone could survive falling from here.<p>

"Thank you!" Tazuna exclaimed happily, staring into the distance. He was mostly likely thinking about finishing the bridge one day, when all this was over. The bridge was, like he had said, halfway done.

"Shouldn't we start heading back already?" Sakura asked without diverting her attention from the water below. She was leaning dangerously over the edge in a fifty degree angle from the horizontal to get a better view, relying solely on Sasuke's hand for support. Sasuke in turn was standing behind the handrail, barely keeping himself in place. The boy was clearly struggling to keep his grip from failing.

Kakashi really had to wonder how Sakura even managed to persuade Sasuke to help her.

"I think so," Tazuna said after a while. He seemed to have finally noticed Sasuke's situation. "Can't let my daughter get too worried, now can I? Not to mention Inari."

"Alright, Sasuke," Sakura said as she turned to look away from the water below. "You can pull me up now."

Sasuke didn't need to be told twice. He immediately pulled her up as fast as he could, relieved that didn't have to hold her steady any longer. Sakura jumped over the handrail, and they joined the adults near the unfinished end of the bridge.

"Leaving so soon, huh?" Zabuza's voice asked much to their shock. They turned to find him standing not too far away from them with his sword held lazily in his hands. Interestingly, this time he had donned a black, sleeveless shirt.

"Get ready to run," Kakashi whispered as he pushed them aside and drew a kunai. "I'll hold him off as long as I can."

"Are you sure of this?" asked Sasuke, preparing to rush past the missing-nin. Tazuna and Sakura weren't any more sure of this course of action than he was, but Kakashi seemed confident.

"Just go already! I'll make sure you can escape!" Kakashi charged at Zabuza who readied his sword. As they clashed, the others ran by.

"Don't think I came alone this time!" Zabuza yelled as he jumped aside to dodge Kakashi's blade. He kicked the Copy Ninja away and raised his sword for a mighty swing that would cut his opponent in two.

Suddenly, a large mirror made of ice materialized in front of the Tazuna and a figure appeared from it.

His outfit consisted of a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached down to his knees. On the outside of that, he wore a green-blue short kimono with white edges, and around his waist a green brown obi with a fringed trail. He also wore light brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as his kimono and a white mask with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol on the forehead.

Before the new attacker could do more than step out of the melting mirror, Sasuke charged him to prevent him from attacking Tazuna. The old man took this as his cue and continued running with Sakura.

The duo was almost at the end of the bridge when they saw Naruto appear from the edge of the forest. It seemed he had run all the way here from Tazuna's house. He was wearing his overcoat and belt - a sign that he meant business.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked him as they stopped within two meters of each other. It might not have showed, but she was glad he was here.

Naruto pointed at Tazuna. "Your grandkid saw someone spying on you and told us. I came as fast as I could." He took a deep breath and looked past them. "It seems trouble came earlier than expected. Keep going, I'll help them out!" He was off like a rocket, heading straight for Sasuke and the mysterious ninja.

Sakura didn't want to think about what could happen if Zabuza turned out to be more formidable than expected. She kept her head turned to observe the ongoing battle even as she and Tazuna continued to run away. She probably should have watched where she was going, since it didn't take long for her to collide with Tazuna's back when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong," Sakura asked as she stepped out from behind, rubbing the side of her head. Then, she saw what had made Tazuna freeze in fright.

A hulking monstrosity was making its way out of the forest with long, slow steps, bending branches and bushes out of its way. It resembled a dark grey skinned man who had grown four meters tall and had an extra pair of arms. It was highly muscular and seemed ready to tear them apart.

Its face was what caught their attention, however; its eye sockets were empty and its large mouth had no teeth. Yet, despite the lack of eyes, it seemed to stare directly at them.

"What is that thing?" Tazuna asked, clearly afraid for his life. With every step he took backwards, the monster took one forward. It stared at him hungrily, growling as it got closer.

"I don't know..."

* * *

><p>Sasuke felt desperate as he tried to find a way out of the dome he had been trapped in. He had never expected to face a ninja who could perform ice-based techniques - in fact he had never heard of one in his entire life. Having found himself in this situation, he realised that it would have been for the best if it had stayed that way.<p>

"Are you ready to give up?" his opponent asked, appearing in one of the ice mirrors that floated at an angle above the ones on the ground.

Sasuke didn't respond. He waited for his opponent to switch to another mirror on the ground level. He already had a few senbon sticking out of him at different spots, but he hoped they wouldn't impair his ability to launch a fireball.

His opponent threw another senbon before moving to another mirror. Sasuke jumped to the side and started going through the necessary hand seals when he saw his target reappear right where he wanted him to.

The fireball hit the intended mirror, and Sasuke charged into the smoke, hoping to get out. He had no doubts that his opponent had already switched to another mirror, but he had not expected to find his target still intact.

The mirror was already repairing itself, reforming the melted part like nothing had happened.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks and was rewarded with a hail of senbon to the back, some of them aimed at his pressure points.

It seemed his opponent was simply toying with him, otherwise he would have been dead already.

"You cannot get out," his opponent said from behind him. "My technique absorbs chakra from your attacks and uses it to repair itself. It is impossible to beat! Give up!"

Sasuke growled, turning to face him while still keeping an eye out for possible escape routes. The gap between mirrors was wide enough for him squeeze through, but he simply lacked the time for it.

"Sasuke! Get ready to run!" Naruto's voice called out. "I'll try something!"

Sasuke spun back around and saw Naruto from the gap between mirrors. He was touching the screen on his glove while keeping his eyes on the dome. Sasuke briefly wondered what he was going to do - as was the ice ninja who had switched to a mirror above him.

Naruto pointed his left hand at the edge of the mirror right in front of him, and three small fireballs struck it a second later. At first, Sasuke wondered what was the point of it, until he noticed the ice wasn't reforming at all.

"Sasuke, c'mon, dammit!" Naruto yelled, reaching out for him. The ice was already starting to reform at a rate much slower than before.

Sasuke rushed through without wasting another second, squeezing through the gap with ease. He got halfway to Naruto when his foot hit something lying on the ground and he stumbled. Naruto caught him by his arm and helped him stand up with a stern look on his face, while pulling the senbon out of his back.

"Go help the others," he said, gesturing towards the end of the bridge. "I'll take care of this guy for you!"

"But I-"

"Don't tell me you can't go because of a scratch. Just go!" Naruto flung him onward and turned to face the rapidly melting dome of mirrors.

Sasuke didn't try to say anything this time; he just did as told and ran off as fast as he could. He didn't know what to think of Naruto's chances, but he chose to ignore it; he had to focus on the task at hand. He could, after all, see the great, humanoid creature even from this far away and he feared for their safety.

Briefly, he wondered why Naruto didn't help them himself and let Sasuke handle the ice ninja.

Then again, seeing how badly that was going, maybe it was for the best.

* * *

><p>Sakura fell on her back from a blow and struggled to get up. Off to the side Tazuna was trying to keep his distance with the grey monster.<p>

"What is this thing?" she whispered as it got closer, pinning her hand under its foot. She screamed in pain, feeling the bones in her hand struggle against the weight that threatened to crush her. She tried to punch with her free hand, but couldn't make the thing budge - in fact, she felt weaker than ever.

"Your chakra," the thing's hollow voice whispered as it bent closer. "It smells delicious and looks so bright! Yet..." It turned its head to look along the bridge. "It pales in comparison to those four. I'll consume theirs after yours."

Sakura's eyes widened when she realised this thing was sucking the chakra right out of her, weakening her blows dramatically.

The creature leaned close again, staring into her eyes with its empty sockets. It seemed ready to devour her or something.

"Hey, ugly!" Tazuna yelled.

Sakura and the thing turned to look in his direction just as a large steel beam slammed it off its feet. Sakura let out a groan of relief, feeling the weight on her hand disappear instantly. She got up and saw Tazuna swinging the beam from side to side to, keeping the monster at bay for the time being.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, ignoring her hand for the moment.

"It has been lying around here since the last time the workers were here," Tazuna explained while walking back to her, keeping the monster away with wild swings. It looked very heavy, which spoke highly of Tazuna's upper body strength for such an old man.

The monster caught the beam and tore it from Tazuna's hands as he tried to smash it into its face one last time. It snapped the heavy steel beam in two and threw the halves away angrily, growling at them with barely contained hate and bloodlust.

"Sakura! Tazuna!"

The two humans turned to see Sasuke coming their way, rapidly going through the hand seals of his fireball technique. They quickly jumped aside when the monster was about to smash its fists into them which left it wide open for Sasuke's attack.

The fireball missed by a mere inch - not because Sasuke had a bad aim, but because the thing was fast enough to react and avoid it. The fireball went on for a few seconds before harmlessly hitting the ground some distance away.

"What is this thing?" Sasuke asked them after a moment before throwing a kunai at the monster.

"No idea," Sakura answered. "It just appeared." She was thinking about asking him why he had come after them and where Naruto was, but she didn't want to waste time.

"Watch out!" Tazuna shouted frantically as the thing charged at them, deflecting any kunai or shuriken thrown at it with breathless ease. They scattered fast, barely dodging all of its flailing arms and grasping hands.

Sakura saw Tazuna going for a steel bar about a meter in length. It wasn't much, but it was a handy replacement for his earlier, much longer beam. She herself was already on her last kunai and would have to search for something else soon. Fortunately for her health, the monster was concentrating on Sasuke, the one with the most chakra in the immediate vicinity.

Sakura tightened her grip on her kunai and charged.

* * *

><p>Naruto pulled his gunblade from its holster and blocked another barrage of sharp needles. It was fortunate that the weapon was sturdy and would take a lot more than that to break. What was with this guy and needles anyway?<p>

"Out of tricks?" he mocked, while delivering a swift kick to his opponent's waist. Another fortunate thing was that his opponent was at least ten centimeters shorter than him.

His opponent stayed silent and conjured up another ice mirror between them when he saw Naruto raise his manadrive-glad hand, unwilling to find out what else he could do with it. Unlike before the start of their fight, however, Naruto wasn't going to waste his time with mirrors. He swiftly moved around the obstacle - only to be rewarded with a hard punch to the face.

"I take that back, you _do_ have some tricks left!" Naruto gave a weak grin and deflected a needle heading his way. It seemed his opponent had anticipated his actions and had hidden on the other side of the mirror, ready to strike at Naruto as soon as he came within reach.

"And it seems you are the one out tricks," his opponent mocked as the ice block melted away. He threw yet another needle at Naruto who simply sidestepped it.

Naruto holstered his gunblade and leaned out of the way of a punch. He ducked under another one and uppercut the little bastard in the chest, making him take a step backwards.

His opponent recovered just in time to avoid a kick coming his way, but a punch managed to connect with his left cheek despite his best attempts to block it.

Naruto narrowly missed with another kick, but before he could follow it up with anything his opponent slammed his knee into his groin, making him bend over. The other boy quickly placed one hand on his shoulder, hopped upwards and slammed his elbow into the back of the blond's head, sending him to the ground.

He had just enough time to turn around before a sandal-glad foot slammed into his face and crushed his nose, staining his face with blood.

The wooden sandal slammed down over and over again, causing at least a concussion or two and numerous bruises and fractures.

"Not so arrogant now," his opponent said and delivered a kick to the left side of his head. "You're pathetic! How someone like you could wound Lord Zabuza is a mystery to me."

When his head snapped to the side, Naruto realised his right hand was a centimeter or two away from the grip of Flamberge. He had a hard time seeing with his face stained with blood and the utter pain he felt, but he didn't need sight to know what to do next.

A plan formed in his head instantly.

As the sandal rose again, he grabbed Flamberge's grip and pulled it out of the holster. In the time it took for his opponent to realise what was happening, Naruto had already smacked the metal weapon into his cheek, cracking the ugly mask he wore.

The boy staggered a few steps backwards, barely managing to keep himself standing.

Naruto rose to his feet, wiping off some of the blood on his face, growling angrily. He gave his opponent a hard kick to the stomach before he backed up to the handrail and selected another sequence on his manadrive, a mere distraction this time.

Naruto pointed his left hand towards his opponent and saw him tense, probably expecting another fireball. This time, however, there was no fire but water. The first water ball hit his opponent in the shoulder when he tried to dodge; the second hit him in the chest. Then a bolt of lightning struck him from above without warning. He spasmed and twitched as the electricity coursed through his body, barely keeping himself on his feet.

Naruto climbed over the handrail and stopped to stand at the very edge of the bridge. The other boy finally stopped twitching and started going through hand seals for some technique of his until he noticed where exactly Naruto was standing.

Without fear or hesitation, Naruto snapped his fingers and dropped off the edge.

* * *

><p>"Why did he do that?" Haku asked himself, leaning on the handrail while looking at the strong currents below. No one could have survived a fall like that from this height, and the body had simply washed away. "Did he really decide that suicide was the best way out of this? What a coward!"<p>

Something dropped to the bridge right under him.

Haku looked down cautiously and realised it was a fragment of his mask. The blow he had received from the Konoha ninja had apparently broken it. He was a lot stronger than he looked, Haku had to give him that.

Another piece fell off and then another.

Haku removed the mask reluctantly to inspect the damage done to it, to see if it could still be used to hide his identity. Normally he used the mask to pretend to be a hunter-nin to save Zabuza when things went south or to simply get close to his target for a kill.

"This might be bad," he mused silently, frowning. The whole lower left side of the mask was in the process of falling apart, and there was no guarantee the rest of it wouldn't follow in time.

Haku dropped the mask and sighed. He would have to get a new one, but he had bigger concerns at the moment; there were still Konoha ninjas to kill. He quickly checked if he still had enough senbon to neutralize his foes and was disappointed when he realised he only had one left. It would have to do for now.

Suddenly, as he was about to get away from the handrail, Haku felt an odd chill surround him. He saw his breath steam and noted how snowflakes were forming around him.

At first, he thought nothing of it, brushing it off as his mind playing tricks on him. Less than a second later, however, the temperature around him dropped so quickly and so suddenly that the water on his clothes and the sweat on his skin froze instantly and painfully. He gasped audibly in shock.

"H-how?" he whispered, feeling how the melting frost froze again and how it repeated one more time after that. How was this possible? Who could do something like this? Who was doing this? Those were the questions he asked himself in his head, his body numb from the sudden cold.

Haku yelled out in pain when he felt a sharp blade slice diagonally across his back. He staggered to the side, paralyzed with shock, and fell to his knees. The frost covering him had already started to melt at a rapid pace which allowed him to finally turn around face his attacker.

"You!" he shouted, eyes wide, and was punched in the face as soon as the word left his mouth. His head collided with the handrail painfully.

"But how?" was all he managed to ask before a vicious kick smashed the side of his head into the steel, giving him a nasty concussion.

The angry Konoha boy grabbed him by the shoulders and wrestled him to the ground, pressing his head against the concrete. He straddled Haku's chest with his knees on the shoulders. Blood and bruises marred his face which normally would have made Haku smile with sadistic glee, but not today.

With a growl of rage the boy began to pummel his face with his fists like an enraged animal.

Haku didn't know how long it continued after that or how many times the fists him. He lost track of time the moment the fists started to pound his face with ever-increasing pace.

A long moment later it stopped and the weight on top of him lifted, but the damage was already done. Haku's head felt like it was about to split open from the pain alone and his face was covered in blood and bruises, badly obscuring his vision. He wouldn't be of any use to Zabuza for a long time, if he managed survived this ordeal.

Slowly and carefully, Haku stood up and tried to locate the Konoha ninja, his hand instinctively going for his senbon. He couldn't see more than half a meter ahead and thus wouldn't have known if the boy was right in front of him. He looked around frantically, desperately trying to see even a glimpse of his opponent's white coat or that ridiculous red cape he had. Did he truly think himself a hero?

"I guess... you could say," the blond boy's tired voice said from behind him, "that we... are now even, aren't we, you bastard?"

Haku turned around, but all he could see was something metallic pointed at his face. He couldn't make out any details nor did he even see that cursed Konoha ninja. His sight may have been useless now, but his hearing still worked adequately. There was heavy breathing dead ahead of him, maybe two meters away.

Now the only thing Haku needed to do was-

_Bang!_

* * *

><p>A shuriken flew at him, and he jumped to the side while swinging his sword around to meet the charging Copy Ninja. That cursed sharingan of his allowed him to dodge right in time and almost stab his last kunai into his side.<p>

"You are starting to get on my nerves!" Zabuza roared and kicked his foe away from him. This time he went for a two-handed swing that was supposed to cleave the annoyance in two.

"My pleasure!" Kakashi laughed as he easily jumped back to avoid the tip of the sword.

"Die already!" Zabuza was already sick of the Copy Ninja and wanted nothing more than to see him dead. He swung his sword from left to right, trying to hit the retreating vermin.

Kakashi's back finally met the handrail, and Zabuza saw his chance. He stabbed forward to skewer the bastard, but the copycat stepped aside at the last moment, and the blade cut through the handrail instead.

"Stay still, you weakling!" Zabuza yelled as he raised the sword to block the kunai Kakashi had thrown. He was thankful that due to their close proximity neither of them had the time to perform necessary hand seals for anything. Close combat was were Zabuza excelled, after all.

Kakashi rolled under another sword swing and kicked him in the lower back when he got back on his feet. He tried to grab a kunai that was lying on the ground, but stopped when the sword almost beheaded him. He jumped to the side and barely dodged the blade by a centimeter.

Frowning, Zabuza moved back and let his sword lean against him as he started to go through a set of hand seals. A little mist would do the trick for now.

_Bang!_

Zabuza froze before he could finish the first seal, knowing that sound very well. It was that damned boy's weapon! He looked down at his body and arms, fully expecting to find another hole in him.

Filled with dread, Zabuza turned around just in time to see Haku's lifeless body fall over, blood pooling around his head. The blond boy was standing over him, his weapon lowered and his breathing heavy. He turned to glare at Zabuza, his weapon ready in case he was attacked again.

_Haku, no! You are not getting me, too, you brat_! Zabuza tightened his grip on Kubikiribouchou. He was all but ready to avenge Haku, but first he needed to get rid of certain someone.

An instant later, Zabuza heard a strange sound he couldn't describe coming from behind him. He briefly wondered what it could have been and felt his danger senses flaring, urging him to turn around before it was too late. Then he remembered something he had once read about Kakashi, something about a technique of his.

"Lightning cutter!" Kakashi yelled - probably just to grab Zabuza's attention, to hammer in just how screwed he was.

Eyes wide, Zabuza quickly turned back around and lifted his sword for a swift blow, but it was too late for him.

The electricity covered fist punched clean through his chest, meeting no resistance as it smashed through his ribcage and vital organs, ending his life instantly. Kubikiribouchou dropped uselessly from his hands, and he joined it on the ground a second later when Kakashi pulled his hand out of his chest.

The reign of the Demon of the Hidden Mist had finally come to its end.

* * *

><p>The monster howled in rage, throwing punches around wildly. It barely missed Tazuna's head with a punch that took off his hat and tried to catch Sasuke to satiate its lust for his chakra.<p>

Fortunately for Sakura, the thing was completely ignoring her, which had allowed her to stuck a kunai into its shoulder with a little help from the old man. Purple blood seeped profusely from the wound, but it didn't hinder the monster one bit. Did it even feel pain?

"How are we supposed to kill this thing?" Sasuke asked as he rolled out of the way of the thing's fist.

"Just keep hitting it!" Tazuna yelled and smacked his steel bar into the thing's knee, slightly disrupting its balance.

Sasuke quickly backed away as the thing tried to once again catch him with its hands. He looked around for something that could help him fight, something useful. He eyed the tall building at the end of the bridge some distance away from his current position. If he could avoid getting hit, he could put Kakashi's teachings to a test.

The monster howled again, its sound almost deafening, and charged at him. Before it reached him Tazuna rammed his weapon into its side hard enough to temporarily stop it. Sakura jumped onto its back with a new kunai in hand and stabbed as hard as she could. The blade penetrated the thing's thick skin with some difficulty and got stuck in its back. It tried to shake her off while unintentionally smacking Tazuna off his feet.

"Sasuke, get going!" Sakura yelled just as the monster managed to grab her by her leg and throw her off.

Sasuke ran for it, but didn't get far before the monster caught him by his leg. He yelped in surprise as it lifted him off the ground with contemptuous ease, growling in rage. It didn't mind any of the kicks or punches he threw at its face, but with his chakra being drained he doubted a fly would notice it.

Suddenly, an old harpoon struck the monster's side and bounced off without leaving a mark. It was followed by a second one which caused a small wound. Then an arrow hit one of its arms, and a pitchfork was stabbed into its thigh. The thing let Sasuke drop from its grip, howling in pain and outrage.

"Everyone!" Tazuna exclaimed as he stood up. "I can't believe this."

"Couldn't allow you to have all the fun, Tazuna!" one villager joked as he threw a wooden club into the thing's face.

More and more villagers joined the fray, hammering the monster with everything they had at their disposal. It was throwing them around like rag dolls and swatting them aside like flies, causing serious injuries to many, but fortunately nothing fatal.

"Sasuke, c'mon!" Sakura urged, pulling the exhausted boy to safety. Sasuke was surprised to see Inari appear and help Sakura, directing them towards his grandfather.

"How are we supposed to kill this thing?" Sasuke asked, feeling a little light headed. He wondered if he still had enough chakra for a fireball, but with this many people around his target it wouldn't be a wise move.

"Hey, kid," Tazuna said, addressing him. "Can you use that fancy fireball of yours?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, trying hard not to chuckle. Maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised after seeing Tazuna do things he had deemed impossible for an old man like him. "I think so."

"Just make sure you don't hit any of the villagers."

Sasuke moved back a bit, facing the chaotic battle against the abomination. He felt unsure of himself and thought what would happen if he did miss. He had never successfully used the great fireball technique against a live opponent; Zabuza had dodged it, as had the monster and the ice ninja. What if it didn't work? What if the monster was capable of resisting it?

Sasuke felt a hand land on his shoulder and turned to see Sakura smiling at him, her face flustered. "You can do it, Sasuke," she said and let go. "We're all counting on you!"

Sasuke nodded, noting the wide encouraging smile on Tazuna and Inari's faces. He closed his eyes to focus, chanting "I can do this" in his head, and slowly started to go through the necessary hand seals. When he opened them, he realised he could see the chakra of the fighting villagers and the dark, malevolent energy of the monster - some kind of tainted form of chakra, it seemed - flow throughout their bodies as they moved about.

_Sharingan!_ he thought in wonder, recognizing what was going on.

Banishing all doubt and questions in his mind, Sasuke inhaled deeply and then exhaled a massive fireball that sped towards the hulking thing.

"Everybody out of the way!" a villager who was standing near them shouted. The fighting locals scattered and backed away as quickly as they could, leaving the monster alone to feel the intense heat of the technique.

"No!" it roared, holding its hands in front of it to shield itself.

The fireball struck true and engulfed it in flames.

The creature tried to desperately get rid of the fire scorching its skin, howling even louder than before. It flailed around for some time, until finally the flames got the best of it and it fell over backwards, smoking from numerous places - some of which were still on fire.

An odd silence fell over the bridge as people made sure the thing was truly dead. When it was confirmed, the villagers began to cheer, raising whatever weapons they had into the air.

Sasuke smiled and walked back to Sakura, Tazuna and Inari, fighting off his exhaustion for now. His vision had returned to normal, his sharingan deactivated to save his chakra, and he was breathing heavily, his legs unsteady. Yet despite all this he felt good; he had just saved countless lives from that hideous thing.

"I have to admit, Tazuna," Gato said as he stopped next to them. He was leaning on his walking stick and had a giant grin on his face. "I had some doubts about our success, but I'm happy to be proven wrong."

"Thank you!" Tazuna laughed, then coughed a little before continuing. "This is your doing, I presume."

"Yes. We drove out Zabuza's thugs and came here as fast as we could."

"And just in time, too!" Inari told him proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, I can see that, Inari! I am so proud of you."

As their conversation went on and some villagers left to inform the rest of the townsfolk, Sasuke began to look around to see where Kakashi and Naruto were.

He got his answer almost immediately for he saw them walking through the crowd. Naruto was barely standing and was relying on Kakashi for support.

"Good to see everyone is alright," Kakashi said when they got closer, "and not like him." He turned his head to towards Naruto who spat to express his displeasure. Sasuke noted that he spat an unhealthy amount of blood, and he could have sworn he saw a fragment of a tooth in there, too.

"How is he?" Sakura asked, worried.

"See for yourself." Kakashi let Naruto sit down and lean against his leg, while the boy groaned painfully.

Naruto reluctantly turned to face them, and Sasuke really hoped he hadn't. There were nasty bruises, small cuts and blood all over his face, and his nose seemed broken. He looked extremely tired, and seemed ready to fall unconscious any minute now. There were also a few bloodstains on his otherwise immaculate coat.

"Bah, you should see the other guy."

* * *

><p>"Are you absolutely sure you won't need us any more?" Kakashi asked.<p>

It had been only a few days after Zabuza and his lackeys had been defeated, and now Team Seven sat on the boat that would take back to Land of Fire. Tazuna and Gato had assured them they could return to Konoha now that the criminals had been driven away and the bridge's construction could continue. There was no need to protect their client any longer.

Tazuna offered them a warm smile as he helped their rower get the boat off the beach. "I am. You have already helped us tremendously, and I believe we can take care of ourselves. Thank you for all you've done for us!"

"Well, when you put it that way." Kakashi sighed, but smiled under his mask nonetheless. He was still a little angry that Tazuna had chosen to omit crucial details about this mission, but in the end Zabuza had been slain and his thugs had fled. Land of Waves was free once more and, miraculously, none of the villagers had been killed in the fight with the grey monster - whatever it was, he would never know.

There was no reason to remain angry with him.

"Farewell, my friends!" Tazuna yelled as the rower climbed onto the boat and they started their journey back to Konoha.

Everyone waved, except Naruto who simply frowned. A bandage was wrapped around his head, and multiple bandaids were placed around his face. His cuts and bruises had mostly healed, but some of them were still visible. The village's doctors said a skull fracture was possible, but it would heal in time provided he didn't go bashing his head against a wall or something.

"You sure don't change at all, Naruto," Sasuke noted in a playful tone. The two were sitting in the middle of the boat, facing the stern.

"Fuck you, too."

Kakashi sighed and pressed his palm against his forehead, feeling a headache already on its way. "Boys, please, be quiet like Sakura."

The girl in question was sitting at the bow of the boat and smiled widely at the frowning boys. They glared at Sakura for a second then opted to stare off the boat in silence.

"Your students sure are entertaining, sir," the rower remarked with a small laugh from behind Kakashi.

"That they are," Kakashi replied. "That they are."

* * *

><p><strong>My god, that took me 50 days to finish. FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUU-<strong>

**Ahem, I hope you liked this chapter and I won't take as long to write the next one. At least there isn't anything big planned since the chuunin exams will start in Chapter 11.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Before I went with BANG, the gunblade would have either made a BLAM (as in "HERESY! *BLAM*") or a FWIP. I couldn't accurately replicate the gunblade's sound from the game. :(**


	10. The Village

**Hello once again!**

**Status is now: 17200 hits, 92 favorites and 79 alerts.**

**This chapter doesn't advance the storyline that much, so don't be surprised. Enjoy nonetheless!**

* * *

><p>The VillageHome Sweet Home

"_Great to be back home at last_."

* * *

><p>Home.<p>

Home was what the others called this place, this village. This was where they had been born and where they lived, and every one of them was proud to be part of the village. None of them could have ever thought of a better place than this.

But not Naruto. He may have been born here sixteen years ago, but he didn't belong here anymore.

Konoha was not his home; New Bodhum was. This old, rundown house was not his home; the NORA House was. This worn out mattress was not his bed; the NORA House's couch was.

"Hmmm. Dark clouds in the horizon," Naruto said as he looked out of the hole in the ceiling. This would be an excellent opportunity to wash his clothes.

"Fucking bastard," he cursed, eyeing the bloodstains on the overcoat he got from Lightning. Some of the blood was his own; some of it the ice ninja's. The coat was hanging from an old coat rack, along with his belt and the attached holster. His boots were on the floor below them, with his dirty socks stuffed inside. "I should have saved that bullet."

Naruto inspected the back of his hands, frowning heavily. His knuckles had almost fully healed after he had pummeled the bastard's face in. Thankfully the damage hadn't been too severe, and he had managed to avoid breaking any of the bones in his hands.

"Or maybe not," he said, moving to the night table where he had left the manadrive. He checked it for any damage he might have unintentionally caused. There was none which was a relief, but he couldn't risk breaking it; it was a gift after all. He shifted his attention to the other things on the table that he had taken from his coat's pockets: his headband and the picture from Lightning. He couldn't care less about the headband, but he was glad the picture was unharmed. It was irreplaceable.

He looked down at his shirt and realised just how dirty it was. Sweat, grime and blood covered it almost entirely; he'd have to wash it as well.

Naruto took off the shirt and threw it onto the mattress, scowling in disgust. At least his pants weren't in need of washing, he reminded himself. At times like this he hated the fact he didn't have any spare clothes.

Thunder boomed in the distance.

He sighed and gathered his shirt and coat, eyeing the sky.

He needed to hurry.

* * *

><p>"Naruto hasn't visited in a while," Gentaro noted as Danzo walked in from the back door. "Do you think something has happened to him?"<p>

Danzo shook his head. He fought back the urge to answer "yes", having heard of what had happened during Team Seven's last mission. He prayed the boy was alright.

"Hopefully nothing," Gentaro continued, seeing that Danzo wasn't going to give an answer. "We haven't been able to celebrate his birthday yet."

"Ah, that!" Danzo couldn't fathom how he had forgotten Naruto's birthday. The tenth of October had gone by last week when Naruto was still in Land of Waves. It had been four years now since the last time he could celebrate it.

"Well, at least we _can_ celebrate it this year," Nadeshiko said as she walked in, carrying a bunch of plates. "Do you think he'll eat his traditional bowl of noodles?"

"I think so," Danzo answered, nodding.

Thunder boomed loudly outside and startled all three of them. It was still some distance away from the village, but would be here any minute now.

"All right, let's concentrate on the task at hand. Naruto will visit when he has the time. Understood?"

"Yes, Danzo!"

* * *

><p>"Any news about Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he arrived to the clearing. It was the same place where he had held the test for his students, the Third Training Ground; a perfect place for a team meeting in his opinion.<p>

"No, nothing," Sasuke answered. He was sitting on the slightly wet log with Sakura. "Do you think something has happened?"

"Most likely he's staying in bed to recover. You do remember what his face looks like, right?"

"Don't remind me," Sasuke muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. How could he forget something like that? The ice ninja had to have been a very formidable opponent if Naruto hadn't used his strange weapon for a quick kill like with the Demon Brothers.

"So, considering he isn't here," Sakura began after a small moment of silence, "what are we going to do now?"

Kakashi sighed. "Well, I was supposed to ask you about attending the chuunin exams, but I need all three of you to agree on it. They start in two weeks and I need to know beforehand. Does either of you know where Naruto lives so I can notify him about this?"

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged looks before shrugging sheepishly.

"You don't know?" Kakashi asked, incredulous. "Does anyone in this village know? I've asked around and people either don't know Naruto or where he lives."

His students simply repeated their earlier gestures. Kakashi sighed again, this time more heavily, and shook his head. How was he supposed to sign them up if no one knew where to find the last member? As if the boy wasn't already a total mystery.

"Have you asked Elder Danzo yet?" Sakura asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi didn't see how the elder would have any information about this, but anything that would help him do his job was welcome.

Sakura shrugged once again. "Well, Naruto seems to be friends with him or something."

"Yeah, they seemed pretty familiar with each other now that I think about it. Naruto even calls him 'Old Man'," Sasuke said, silently nodding to himself.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I guess I'll try asking him. Anyway, since there's nothing more for today, I suggest you go home."

"Wait a second! Are you saying we came here for nothing?" It was somewhat surprising to see Sasuke asking this; Kakashi had expected Sakura to object more than him.

"Well, you now know about chuunin exams," Kakashi pointed out. A small grin formed under his mask when he saw his students fuming. They were starting to leave while glaring daggers at him, cursing his name and antics in their little heads.

Chuckling to himself, Kakashi left his students. He had an elder to meet.

* * *

><p>"Well, no wonder I've been waking up at the most untimely hours!"<p>

Danzo wondered what was so enlightening in the small pocket watch he had given. It was a downright ancient thing, a bit rusty in places and barely in working condition. It had lain at the bottom of his cabinet for a long time since he hadn't found any use for it.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

Naruto turned his gaze away from the watch in his hands. "Well, it seems this world has twenty-four hours in a day, which has caused me some minor problems. With sleep mostly."

"So, you're saying Gran Pulse doesn't have a twenty-four hour day?"

"Correct." Naruto once again inspected the watch, turning it around and back. "I've gotten used to a twenty-six hour day over the years. Hmph, I should have noticed this earlier."

"It sounds like a truly interesting world to live in."

"Oh, you have no idea," Naruto nodded as he turned to face him. His wide, toothy grin revealed that a part was missing from one of his teeth. This only added to the unease his bruised and beat up face caused. "Well, thanks for the food and all, Old Man! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go see how my coat is drying."

Danzo allowed a small smile to grace his lips when he heard it. He had wondered why Naruto had showed up without his trademark overcoat, but now he understood; yesterday's rain, of course. Why hadn't he considered that?

"Great to be back home at last." With that said, Naruto left through the back door like he always did.

Danzo sighed, wondered how much living in a different world had changed the boy. He sensed Naruto's last words hadn't been truly honest, like he had forced himself to say them. Was he not happy to return at all?

"Danzo, there's someone who wants to speak with you," Nadeshiko announced from the doorway. "He says it can wait if you don't have time."

Danzo turned to face her, his expression curious. "Let him in," he said after a few seconds of thinking.

Nadeshiko nodded and turned to around to say something before walking off.

A man dressed in black clothes, chuunin vest and a face mask walked in. "Elder Danzo," he greeted with a small bow.

"Kakashi," Danzo said with a nod. The long, silver hair was a dead giveaway of the man's identity. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was told you and Naruto know each other so I came to ask if you know where he might live."

Danzo raised an eyebrow. "You... Why exactly do you want to know that?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head as he continued. "I need his agreement before I can sign up my team for the chuunin exams. The applications need to be delivered by the end of the week."

Danzo nodded, understanding the jounin's reasoning. "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't know where he lives. He left just a moment ago, so you might catch sight of him if you're quick."

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise and he looked over his shoulder as if to make sure he hadn't just unknowingly walked past his student. He scanned the large windows and the street beyond for any signs of the boy, hoping to see him in the small crowd of people passing by. It looked quite humorous to Danzo, who allowed himself to chuckle quietly.

"He uses the back door," he said when Kakashi finally turned back to him. He opened the door for the jounin who quickly ran outside and looked around frantically. He returned inside after a few seconds, disappointed.

"He also disappears pretty fast," Danzo continued. He knew Kakashi wouldn't catch Naruto even if he had arrived earlier; the boy seemed to know how to vanish into thin air when no one was looking.

Kakashi hung his head and sighed heavily. He thought of something for a while and raised his head. "Can you tell him about the chuunin exams when he drops by again, Elder Danzo?"

Danzo nodded. "Of course, Kakashi."

"Thank you, Elder Danzo!" Kakashi bowed one last time and then left, leaving Danzo alone to ponder about the coming exams. He had some doubts about the team's success, but he would have to wait and see.

* * *

><p>There was only a week left before the start of the chuunin exams. Danzo had informed Naruto when he visited the next day on his way to a team meeting. He had told him how succeeding well in the exams would let him become a chuunin and thus advance on his ninja career. Naruto had thanked him for the information, but he couldn't really care less about his career.<p>

Last week had gone by slowly. Team Seven had tried to keep itself busy with numerous D-rank missions, but waiting for the exams to start was making them anxious and distracted. After a bit of persuading, Kakashi had agreed to let them spend the next week without a single mission so they could prepare for the exams. They hadn't seen each other after that, which was more than fine for Naruto.

He spent most of his days in his home, leaving only to greet Old Man Danzo and to get something to eat. He was constantly overcome with a feeling of unease, like something was going to happen soon - sooner than he'd like.

Most of Naruto's wounds had healed by now, save for a few minor bruises. The missing part of his tooth was still causing him a great amount of annoyance, but he could live with it.

A few days before the chuunin exams were to start, during their last scheduled team meeting, Kakashi told them where the exams would be held: third floor of the academy building. He told them he would waiting in the lobby to show the way just in case. He concluded the team meeting after that, much to his students' increasing annoyance.

* * *

><p>"And he did it again," Naruto complained loudly while all three of them were walking down a street. "Always the same fucking idiot."<p>

"You know, Naruto," Sakura said, "you should lighten up a little. Disrespecting Kakashi and swearing constantly isn't going to help."

Naruto showed no sign of hearing her before going on with his rant. "Why can't he send a fucking letter? Oh, wait, I can't read. Well, I could get someone else to read it for me! Or why couldn't use a phon- right, none of those here. Dammit!"

Sasuke tried to say something, anything that would make Naruto stop his rambling. It was unusual for Naruto to constantly complain in this manner or talk this much at all. What had happened to him, really? He showed hints of his normal disinterest when talking about the chuunin exams, so this was not related. Maybe the ice ninja? He seemed like someone who would bear a grudge, which was somewhat understandable, but he had harshly avenged himself by killing the ninja.

"Why are you two even following me?"

"No reason really," Sasuke answered with a shrug.

"Right." His tone made it clear he wasn't buying it. "And you are most certainly not just following me around to see where I lived. Most certainly not!"

Sasuke again wondered what had caused such a drastic change in personality.

"So, what does that say anyway?" Naruto asked suddenly, stopping to stare at a small sign attached to a tall, wooden fence.

Sakura and Sasuke stepped closer to it to better make sense of it. It was quite old, and the text painted on it had faded badly.

With some squinting, Sasuke managed to read it. "It says 'beware'. Beware what?" He looked skyward in hopes of seeing something over the fence. He could only see the edge of a roof and nothing more.

"I guess someone misplaced it," Sakura said, wiping some dirt of the sign. She turned around and her eyes widened when she noticed something that shouldn't have surprised either of them. "He's gone!"

Sasuke spun around instantly and saw no trace of Naruto in any direction. He had obviously used the sign and their curiosity as a distraction. Maybe he had entered one of the buildings on the other side of the street or maybe he had climbed to the roof.

"Dammit! I can't believe we got tricked."

Sakura sighed quietly. "I think we should go home ourselves," she suggested, looking around one last time.

"I think you're right," Sasuke said with a nod. "Well, see you later then."

"Yeah, later."

They went their separate ways after that, heading straight home.

* * *

><p>"Sheesh, never thought it would be that easy to get rid of them." A little distraction and he was free to leave without anyone noticing. He couldn't believe they actually fell for his over the top act.<p>

Idiots, all three of them.

Naruto checked the time from pocket watch he had gotten from Old Man. Afternoon was just starting; plenty of time left for today. But what _could_ he do? Hang out with his friends? He had no friends here. Visit Old Man? The afternoons were always the busiest time of the day, and he would only be in the way like usual. Study? There was nothing to study. Go for a walk? Not in a million years.

Naruto lay down on the mattress, hands behind his head, and just stared at the ceiling. He thought about Lightning and New Bodhum, and wondered how things were in that distant yet idyllic town. It had felt wrong to say goodbye to everyone, but he knew he couldn't return there.

"Hmmm." Naruto turned his head towards the coat rack, staring at the clean overcoat hanging there. It had taken him some effort, but he had managed to get the bloodstains off. Now it looked almost as good as new. What would Lightning say if he didn't take care of her gift?

Naruto sat up eventually, rubbing his forehead. He tried to think of something else to do instead of lying here until the exams began. He looked around, and his eyes fell on the gunblade in its holster. He realised he didn't have any real training with a sword, let alone with one that was also a gun.

"Might as well practice," he said as he stood up and walked across the room. Slowly, as if afraid of getting shocked, he reached for the grip of the gunblade and pulled it out. He swung it around a bit before shifting the weapon to its sword mode.

Naruto raised the blade higher and closer to better observe it. He traced one finger along the yellow colored cutting edge while moving another along the reddish inner part of the blade. He tried not to press too hard to avoid cutting himself.

Sighing, Naruto swung the weapon in wide arcs around him. He repeated the process a few times after that, changing the way he swung and what hand he used every time.

He spun around mid-swing and brought the blade to a stop in front of him, holding it sideways with both hands, its tip pointed towards the ceiling. He eyed it with a big frown on his face, unsatisfied with the way he handled the precious weapon with his hands. Something like this deserved to wielded with respect and skill.

"Yes," Naruto whispered after a long silence. "Practice is what I need."

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it.<strong>

**Next time is the first part of the exams, then the second. The summer vacation is starting in a few weeks so I should be able to write faster. No promises, though.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: In the original drafts Naruto's manadrive would've been able to use cure, ruin and single target versions of Synergist and Saboteur spells. The idea was abandoned because most of them were either gameplay mechanics or I couldn't get them to work properly.**


	11. The Questions

**Welcome again! I hope you're enjoying the summer.**

**Status is now: 20300 hits, 101 favorites and C2 3.**

**This chapter marks the start of the chuunin exams so nothing special to be expected - for now.**

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><p>The QuestionsThe Start Of The Exams

"_Welcome to the chuunin exams, everybody_!"

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><p>This was it, the big day. The chuunin exams were about to start and everyone felt anxious.<p>

"I wish you all luck," Kakashi said as he led his team to up the stairs to the third floor. His students were right behind him, wearing their usual clothes. None of them had spoken much since he met them in the lobby. "You're going to need it if you want to succeed."

"Are these exams really that hard?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, trust me. This is the easy part compared to what's to come. You need to trust each other and work as a team to have a chance of success. Don't let your guard down, always be vigilant."

They arrived at the third floor and turned left. Kakashi pointed at a door near the end of the corridor and told them that was where they needed to go. One last time he wished them luck and then left.

Without a word, Team Seven made its way to the door and entered.

* * *

><p>The classroom was filled with all sorts of people from Konoha and other villages. Some were talking among themselves, while others were sitting quietly. Some cast curious glances at them as they entered the room, but otherwise didn't pay attention to them.<p>

Naruto noticed a few familiar faces among the crowd: former classmates of theirs who had graduated at the same time. He ignored them, even when Sasuke and Sakura stopped to have a little chat. He made his way to the very back of the class and sat down at a desk on the window side. He sat on the left side of the seat so he could see out of the window to pass his time.

Suddenly, he realised this was the same classroom he had visited on the day of his graduation when the door was locked. Funny how something as trivial as another classroom would be so important later on. The room hadn't seemed this big back then, though.

Naruto frowned as he checked the time from a clock on the wall. It was almost noon; the exams would start any minute now. But shouldn't the judges or proctors or whatever be here before the start? Was everyone a Kakashi in disguise? To him it seemed like every higher ranking ninja in this village was an unreliable buffoon.

As time went on, Naruto noted that people were starting to take their seats all around the room. A bunch of weirdos with a musical note on their headbands sat down in front of him; another weird trio, this time from Konoha, sat down at the desk to his right. As he looked them over, he realised that the reason he classified them as weird was because the Konoha ninjas all wore similar clothes and two of them looked almost identical, while the foreigners were weird because one of them had very long sleeves and had bandages hiding most of his face and the only girl of the team had impractically long, black hair.

What was wrong with the inhabitants of this world? He had never seen anyone like them in his life.

"I'm not surprised you didn't bother to say 'hi' to old classmates, Mister Anti-Social," Sasuke said as he and Sakura sat down next to him, "but you could have at least waved."

"Oh, shut up!" Naruto snapped back as harshly as he could without raising his voice enough to attract attention. The cape hanging off his coat was surely conspicuous enough, but at least no one had the time to focus on him. No need to give them a reason, right?

"Shush, both of you!" Sakura whispered as a group of chuunins walked in and stopped at the front of the class. All of them wore the same kind of uniform and had a headband on their foreheads. Some held stacks of paper in their hands; the tests, it seemed. One of them stood out, however: a tall, scar faced man with a black trench coat worn over the normal dull grey uniform and a black hat. He stood in the middle of the assembled chuunins, marking him as the leader of the group.

"Welcome to the chuunin exams, everybody!" the man announced after everyone in the room had finally sat down. "My name is Ibiki Morino, and I will be your proctor for this part of the exams."

The chuunins behind Ibiki began to spread out, sitting down on chairs located around the sides of the room. The chuunins who had the papers began to hand them out as they walked from desk to desk. Naruto eyed the paper as he got it, wondering how he was supposed answer without knowing what it said. He counted nine questions in total; all equally unreadable to him.

"Before you get your pencils, listen to the rules!" Ibiki yelled when everyone had been given their papers. "There are ten questions in this part of the exams. Nine are on the paper while the last one will be given at the end. We do not endorse cheating so anyone caught cheating will lose a point. There is a maximum of three points per team and if you lose all of them, the whole team is disqualified. All three must pass for you to advance."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. He had never expected to attend to an exam that was this weird. He looked around discreetly, checking how others had reacted to these rules, and was relieved he wasn't the only one to be surprised.

"Did everyone understand?" Ibiki asked after a moment. Hearing no negative answers, he nodded to the last chuunin standing next to him. The chuunin nodded back and started to distribute pencils to everyone. "One last thing: put more space between those who are sitting next to you. Can't have you reading the answers from your friends."

People shuffled about, moving away from their teammates while still remaining at the same desk. Naruto himself only leaned a bit to the left while Sakura moved to the right and Sasuke to the very middle. He really had to wonder what had happened if there were this many precautions against cheating. Did a cheater kill someone's kitten or something? Serah had never been this strict in her classes, but no one dared to even think about cheating with "Meanie Miss Farron" as their teacher; then again, Naruto had never attended her classes.

"Everybody ready? You have an hour to answer all the questions. Now, begin!"

* * *

><p>Ibiki watched as yet another team of chuunin hopefuls was disqualified and escorted out of the room. This was the seventh one to fail, and there were only five minutes left. At this rate there would be far too many teams left for the next part. Most of the teams had lost at least one point, but there were a few who hadn't lost even that, and it made him proud; good chuunin potential at long last.<p>

Ibiki eyed a boy in the back who seemed suspicious. He kept looking around and playing with his pencil, but didn't write anything so he couldn't be accused of cheating. He belonged to one of the teams who hadn't been caught cheating at all, so maybe he was sending signals with his pencil or had already cheated and was waiting for the time to run out. It would be fascinating to see how he had answered.

It was interesting to note how many had decided to take a seat as far away from the front of the class as possible. It was not because of him this time, though; they'd been there before he had arrived.

Next, Ibiki turned his attention to a student near the middle of the class. A boy about fifteen years old and dressed in dark green clothes was scratching his chin and staring at the ceiling as if pondering about something. His team, too, hadn't been caught cheating, but he had written quite fast some time ago, a sign that he had somehow gotten his answers.

There was also a third student in one of the few teams to sit in the front rows. He had spiky, black hair and wore a jumpsuit which was stitched up the middle. He also wore a forehead protector that covered his whole head, a rebreather and a sash around his face with eyeholes cut out. He seemed finished with his answers.

Aside from the three exceptions, everyone else was either struggling to answer or using whatever subtle method they had to cheat.

Ibiki turned to check the time from the clock above the door and noted that it was time to finish this.

* * *

><p>"Time's up!"<p>

Naruto had never expected to feel so relieved to hear those words. This had to be one of the longest hours in his life, and he hated it from the bottom of his heart.

"It is time for the tenth question, but first hear out the additional rules."

Naruto almost groaned out loud when he heard that; more useless rules for a useless exam. Wasn't it enough that it had to be made perfectly clear that cheating was bad? Didn't they teach anything in the ninja academy?

"If you answer correctly to this question, you are free to advance no matter how well or badly you answered to the previous questions." Ibiki raised his hand to stop any outraged questions from the participants. "However, if you answer wrong the whole team will be disqualified and forbidden from participating ever again. You can quit now and try again next year, though." He eyed the class for a moment before continuing. "Raise your hand, if you are ready to quit."

Dozens of hands rose to the air almost instantly, and their owners and the owners' teammates were escorted outside. The number of participants had dropped quite sharply, and Naruto wondered if this was in itself a test. Wouldn't those who quit face the same dilemma the next time they tried to become chuunins?

"Anyone else ready to leave?"

No one raised a hand.

Despite the distance between them, Naruto could clearly see the wide grin that spread on Ibiki's face. He wasn't sure if it was a happy one or a devious one, but either way he felt like something unexpected was about to happen.

"Congratulations, you all pass!"

That surprised Naruto who uncharacteristically allowed himself to gape slightly. That was it? No actual question? He could live with that, but sure as hell hadn't expected it.

"Wait, what the crap? What just happened?!" someone yelled from the other side of the room. There were lots of similar questions flying all around, asking about the question that was supposed to be asked or the point of it in the first place.

"Settle down, people, and I'll explain," Ibiki stated calmly. He waited for a moment, making sure everyone had sat down again, before he continued. "The meaning of the first nine questions was to test your information gathering skills since, as many of you have already realised, the questions were designed to be too difficult to be answered by a normal genin. You were supposed to find a reliable source of information, then discreetly cheat off them without getting caught to answer the questions. This is why we placed chuunins among you as reliable sources to cheat off of."

A handful of people stood up and walked to Ibiki, revealing themselves as the chuunins he spoke of. They bowed slightly to him and left the room soon afterwards, saying something about preparing for the later parts of the exams.

Ibiki waited until the door was closed behind them before he continued his explanation.

"The point of the final question was to test your resolve and willingness to take risks, which is why all of you passed. If you had decided to quit you would have faced a similar dilemma the next time you participated, and would always have to do so until you finally chose to take the risk. Imagine a hypothetical ninja mission in which a group of ninjas has to break into an enemy fortress without any information on the enemy who might be expecting them. A chuunin must be willing make difficult decisions based on an uncertain situation or incomplete information. Taking risks, no matter how big or small, is unavoidable."

He grinned widely, seemingly preparing to say something else when something suddenly crashed through a window.

Naruto didn't have time to register what exactly was happening until a big, black banner, filled with text he couldn't read, had been suspended from the ceiling in a few seconds. A weird woman stood in front of it, wearing a tan overcoat, a mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs and a dark orange mini-skirt. She was smiling widely at them, full of joy and enthusiasm.

Ibiki regarded the new arrival with slight annoyance. "Anko," he greeted with a nod. "You are... early."

"No problem, Ibiki!" the woman - now revealed to be named Anko - replied enthusiastically. She eyed the class for a moment and shook her head. "Twenty four teams? That's... uh, seventy two genins. You must be losing your touch, Ibiki."

"Or this year's hopefuls are just that good," Ibiki shot back somewhat seriously. "Their numbers barely dropped in an hour."

Anko seemed unimpressed when she nodded her head after he had finished. She offered him a confident smile and said, "Then, I'll cut the numbers down for you. Everybody, follow me!"

* * *

><p>After a long walk, the crowd came to a stop near the edge of the Forest of Death where the second part was to be held.<p>

Anko and some chuunins who had been waiting there told everyone to sign a release form before they were allowed to enter. He didn't really listen or read it; he just signed to get it over with. It was probably about releasing the village from all responsibility, if something happened - it was the same in every village these days.

He left the signed form at a desk for the chuunins to check and walked back to his team. They were dressed in the same kind of dark green clothes as he was, hiding their faces with their hoods. He didn't see the point of it, but allowed them to do so nonetheless. He always felt uneasy wearing a hood, and it tended throw off his aim at a crucial moment.

"We will move in fifth," he told his team. "Make sure everything is ready and you have your targets. We have five days to get to the tower in the center of the forest, and I want to hear about your success. Both of you understand?"

His teammates nodded and picked up the small bags where they kept the necessary parts and equipment. They told him not to worry and began walking to the team's designated entry point, a gate not too far from their current position. He didn't see the point of using bags when you could strap the parts to your body, but not everyone was as clever as he was.

He turned away from his team and began searching for a perfect target, someone he'd be honored to kill.

Soon his eyes fell on a black haired boy in a white shirt and dark blue pants. The boy was talking with his teammates, a pink haired girl and a blond boy, but they were swiftly ignored. He recognized that boy instantly - Sasuke Uchiha, the last Uchiha in Konoha! A worthy target if he ever saw one. Prodigies were his favorite targets after all.

He turned around and followed his team, doing his best to keep his eye on the Uchiha kid. As he walked around a trio of ninjas from Ame, planning his target's death in his head, he resisted the urge to chuckle fiendishly. To this day he had never missed, no matter the target, and this one wouldn't be an exception. Nothing was going to stand in his way.

Sasuke Uchiha would die this day, Saul would make sure of it.

* * *

><p><strong>And my god, it took me a month to write this!<strong>

**Also, something I have to address: the _fucking_ idiots that inhabit most of the Internet these days have gotten angry because the site has decided to start enforcing their guidelines and terms of service and their stories happened to be in violation of them. There's some kind of petition to get MA rated content back to the site just because people are stupid and can't read worth a shit. Does anyone read the Guidelines like they should? MA-rated content ("Content is only suitable for mature adults") has not been allowed on this site since 2002! Get it through your thick skulls, you morons, and stop making fools out of yourselves!**

**I had to delay this chapter by two weeks because I couldn't stop laughing my ass off while at the same time banging my head against a wall... OK, it wasn't that violent but you get my point. ****During times like these I wonder if there's any hope left for Mankind. But enough of my ranting.**

**Bye... *sigh***

**Fun Fact: In the original drafts Naruto's cape would have been blue and his gunblade would have been either Blazefire Saber or Axis Blade. In some one-off ideas, his weapon would have been either Fang's spear, Noel's swords or Serah's bowsword, but I thought a gunblade was a better idea.**


	12. The Forest

**And welcome back again!**

**Current status: 24500 hits, 107 favorites and 97 alerts.**

**Sorry for all the delays, but I decided to finally redo my Final Fantasy VIII Low Level game. 2 Rosetta stones from D-District prison, Siren at level 100, the best weapons, every side quest, every card in the game and every GF; not a single level gained (or a GF summoned, but that's beside the point). Man, the last time I felt this good was when I finally beat Sephiroth in KH2 after years of humiliation (broken controller does not help, and I play on Proud mode).**

**Anyways, this chapter covers the Forest of Death section of the chuunin exams. Expect changes to canon events! You have been warned.**

* * *

><p>The ForestThe Survival Of The Fittest

"_I ain't finished with you yet!_"

* * *

><p>The forest was the last place he had expected to like.<p>

Everything else in this world so far had been as boring as watching paint dry, but this place actually interested him. He had never seen trees this big; most of them were thicker than the legs of an oretoise and taller than any long gui. No wildlife had shown up yet, but he had a feeling they wouldn't be nearly as impressive as they were on Gran Pulse.

Naruto glanced to his right, a hand on the grip of his gunblade. These trees and bushes could easily hide an entire team of hostiles, and he did not like that thought at all.

"Where do you think we should start looking?" Sasuke asked out of the blue as they ducked under a low branch. "We need the other scroll and I sure as hell am not going to spend five days wandering aimlessly in this forest."

"Head for the tower and ambush people who get there," Naruto said, shrugging. "It's what I would do"

Sasuke sighed loudly. "You know, Naruto, any other time I'd appreciate your tactical input about the situation, but not today. We have no idea how long it will take for another team to get there, and I'm not risking it."

"Pfft, whatever. Just don't blame me when you get your ass handed to you."

Naruto had already had enough of his teammates and decided to proceed with his usual course of action when dealing with his team - sneaking off on his own. He needed a distraction first, though; something that would allow him disappear unnoticed.

It didn't take long for him to notice a small stone lying conveniently on the ground near his foot.

* * *

><p>"What was that?" Sakura asked suddenly, startling Sasuke. He had almost gotten used to the silence as they trekked through the forest, ever vigilant of other teams.<p>

"What is it, Sakura?" Sasuke asked in return without turning back, opting to keep his eyes ahead.

"Didn't you hear that? Like something hitting a tree nearby?"

Sasuke sighed again. "Just your imagination," he said, turning to face her. His eyes immediately widened in shock when he saw something important was missing once again. "He's gone!"

Sakura turned around instantly and gasped quietly. "Unbelievable! How does he do that?! Disappear, I mean." She looked around frantically, checking every surrounding bush and tree for any sign of their missing teammate.

Sasuke knew he should have expected this from Naruto; he always did this. They had known each other for three months now, yet Naruto still managed to surprise him. This should have stopped being surprising the second time he disappeared unexpectedly!

"Dammit! Well, we can't waste time worrying about him. He'll meet up with us in time; he always does."

Sakura nodded, a bit worried, and gave a nearby tree one last look, hoping to see a glimpse of Naruto.

Sasuke turned around to start walking, inwardly cursing the other boy for pulling yet another of his stunts. How were they supposed to be a team when Naruto was constantly going off on his own and ignoring his teammates? In fact, his contempt for his team seemed to increase as time passed. They needed to have a serious talk when he reappeared.

"Let's get going, Sakura. We'll have to worry about him later."

* * *

><p>Naruto watched from a tree branch as his teammates continued to walk through the forest. He still couldn't believe they fell for the same trick yet again; it was like this world was mostly populated by idiots.<p>

Swiftly, he leapt to another branch that was a bit higher than his current one. His feet almost failed to find purchase and threatened to send him plummeting, but he succeeded in pulling himself to the top with some effort. He proceeded to jump to another branch and landed without any trouble.

Quickly checking where the two idiots were, Naruto jumped to a different tree, doing his best to keep tailing them. He was thankful these trees were so tall and their branches so thick he could safely walk on them without anyone noticing.

"Hmmm, where to next?" he pondered quietly, eyeing a pair of trees to his left. The trees were closer to those idiots, but there was a third tree to his right which he could use to jump to a fourth tree that was slightly ahead of his teammates.

Making a quick decision, Naruto took a running start and leapt towards his destination, landing briefly before jumping again. His timing was a bit off, however, and he felt his foot slip from underneath him as he landed again. At the last moment, he managed to halt his fall by grabbing the branch he tried to land on, barely finding purchase with his fingers.

Hanging for dear life, he saw a glade not too far from his current position. It didn't seem that big, much like every clearing this world seemed full of.

Thinking quickly, Naruto let go with his right hand and activated the grav-con unit with a snap of his fingers. His grip failed almost immediately afterwards, but the energy field had already enveloped him, allowing him to flip in midair and land on the branch's underside. Knowing the field wouldn't last forever, he ran along the branch and switched trees once again.

Moving to the top of a branch near the very top, Naruto deactivated the grav-con unit and sat down, panting. That was too close for his liking.

"Now, where are those two?" He peered down from his perch and realised that he had a direct line of sight on the clearing despite a few other massive trees in the way. He could see his teammates about to enter it, checking every direction for signs of them being followed - too bad they didn't think to look up.

His teammates were heading for a gigantic tree on the other side of the glade. It seemed there was space under the gigantic roots of the tree, enough for dozen people to hide under them.

Gazing skywards, Naruto realised that it was getting late. They had wandered the forest for hours to no end, but only now did he realise just how long it had been. No wonder the two idiots on the ground level were heading for a place to seek shelter in. Maybe he should as well.

Naruto lifted his legs to the top of the branch and leaned his back against the trunk. He thought about shutting his eyes and letting himself sleep till the next morning, until his eyes caught glimpse of a suspicious figure moving in the forest down below, sneaking towards Sakura and Sasuke.

Sleep had to wait for now; this required investigating.

* * *

><p>Saul couldn't believe he had spent the entire day stalking his target without a single chance to take his life. But now he finally had that chance!<p>

Carefully, he dropped down from a low hanging branch and hid behind a pair of closely grown trees. He had donned a cloak decorated with patches of grass and leaves to decrease the chance of being spotted. His comrades had gone off to track their own targets, dressed in the same kind of cloaks which they kept in their bags.

Amateurs, both of them. Saul made his cloak by hand while in this forest by using a blanket he had brought with him. It was large and convincing enough to hide him from any curious eyes that might try to find him. As a safety measure in the unlikely case he was defeated, he had hidden his team's scroll inside a "pocket" in the cloak where no one could find it.

Now, he only needed to focus on taking the life of Sasuke Uchiha.

Saul lay still for quite some time, using extremely slow movements to move the cloak to better cover him, and observed his target with a small monocular. Uchiha was sitting under the roots of a large tree with his pink haired teammate, making sure the glade was empty and they were safe for the evening.

Safe, bah! There was no "safe" from Saul! He could kill a specific ninja in a crowd of hundreds with breathless ease.

Diverting his gaze from his main target for a moment, Saul noted that the blond haired teammate was missing, but he brushed it off as irrelevant. He needed to clear his mind of all distractions to ensure a killing blow.

After a moment Saul was completely sure that the two Konoha ninjas were not going anywhere. He put down his monocular, placing it on the grass next to him, and reached for the first piece of equipment he needed to build his weapon.

One by one, Saul laid the pieces of his weapon onto the ground, inspecting them for signs of disrepair that might compromise his kill. He found none, as was expected from his expertise compared to his amateur teammates who still carried their equipment in highly conspicuous bags. With a quick glance with his monocular, Saul made sure his targets were still there, cowering under the roots, and started to fit the pieces together.

He cautiously looked around one more time to be on the safe side; an intervention at this point could endanger the whole situation.

Despite seeing no sign of anyone in the immediate vicinity, Saul couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Maybe it was nothing; maybe he was just getting anxious - it wasn't every day one got to kill a prodigy, after all. Besides, he may not have been a sensor, but he could still sense chakra signatures if they were close enough and he sensed nothing.

Saul attached the monocular to a slot on the top, forming a scope with which to aim. After that he reached into his sleeve and produced a steel bolt which he then set in place, applying the finishing touches to his weapon of choice, a custom-made crossbow. Unlike many other models in the world, Saul's version was made of light metals and plastics, making it easy to hide in pieces and carry around without anyone suspecting anything.

Saul rose slowly, just enough to place the crossbow between the trees without completely revealing his location to anyone who might walk by. He aimed directly at Uchiha and prepared to pull the trigger, to send the bolt flying into the eye of his chosen target.

Saul held his breath, patiently waiting for the girl to move out of the way of his shot, eager to take the life of someone whose death would be talked about for ages to come. The situation reminded him of a mission in his past. He remembered lying motionless on a rooftop with his precious crossbow in hand, aiming through an open window at a seat where his target would sit. It required a great amount of patience to lay still for hours in an unrelenting storm, but it was all worth it - just like this would be.

Finally, the girl moved away to take a look around, giving Saul the perfect opportunity to squeeze the trigger and bring an end to yet another life.

Saul found himself unable to pull the trigger and send the bolt sailing through the air.

He suddenly became aware of another presence watching him, observing his actions. But his disguise was perfect! How could someone be here?

Hastily he turned around with his crossbow ready and saw - no one? How was that possible? His keen senses were never wrong! He turned right - nothing - then left - nothing - and turned around again - still nothing. Feeling uneasy, he turned his gaze skyward.

"I may not like those two, but I can't let you kill them," a male voice said from above.

Saul aimed his crossbow at the branch he thought the voice came from. He couldn't see anyone, but knew that there was an attack incoming; he could feel it in his bones.

Suddenly a ball of water slammed into his crossbow, knocking it out his hands. Acting quickly and on instinct, Saul tried to pick it up again until the air around him grew colder and froze, making his clothes stick to his skin for a split second before a blast of wind knocked him off balance. He didn't have time to recover before something heavy and glowing slammed into him and knocked him off his feet.

Saul struggled to stand up, wind knocked out of his lungs, and finally realised just who he was fighting - the blond haired boy who was in the same team as Uchiha. No wonder he was nowhere to be found; he had been spying on Saul this whole time. This was an inexcusable mistake on his part!

Fortunately, the crossbow was not the only trick Saul had up his sleeve.

"You can't stop me!" he yelled, drawing back his other sleeve and throwing the steel bolt strapped there at his enemy. The boy drew some kind of a metal weapon from a holster hanging from his belt and blocked the thrown object, slapping it aside in midair. However, the distraction was enough for Saul to stand up and get to his crossbow. He picked it up from the ground and turned to aim at the other boy, only to realise that he, too, was being aimed at.

Saul had never seen anything like the weapon he found himself staring at. It was made of metal and was colored dark brown and yellow. It was strangely rectangular in shape and had a hole at the end that was pointed at him. Saul knew crossbows like the back of his hands, and this was not one.

"So, who the fuck are you?" the boy asked, not once taking his eyes off Saul.

"What's it to you?" Saul asked back, his trigger finger itching. He should have pulled the trigger already and ended the unexpected guest's life, but he found himself too cautious and intrigued to do that. He had no idea what the strange metal weapon could do; maybe it was a crossbow or a similar weapon, just heavily customised.

"Just asking before I blast a hole through your head."

Saul raised an eyebrow at that. Such an unusual word combination when referring to pulling the trigger. What could it possibly refer to anyways? There was no way that thing was a crossbow, though.

The boy lowered his weapon, smirking ominously; Saul didn't like it one bit. He didn't dare look downwards despite a sense of foreboding and not knowing what exactly the boy's weapon was or what it did. He could have sworn he heard a strange sound coming from the weapon.

"The safety's on," the boy remarked triumphantly, pointing at his weapon.

"W-what?"

"The safety, it's on."

"Huh?"

Saul had no idea what the "safety" was, but there was no such a thing on his crossbow, of that he was sure. Or was there? The way he pointed suggested that it was on the side or at the bottom.

In his moment of confusion, Saul lowered his weapon by a fraction of an inch. A big mistake.

Before he could react, a sword slashed upwards and threw the crossbow from his hands, sending it flying up into the air. Shocked, Saul stared at the culprit whose strange weapon had somehow transformed into a sword and successfully disarmed him in one hit. He was unable to understand how such a thing could suddenly change shape or who was skilled enough to make it.

The boy took a step backwards and charged forward with his sword in one hand, driving the blade sideways into his gut so hard he bent over. The boy twisted his upper body slightly and slammed his left fist into the back of Saul's head, sending him face first into ground just as his beautifully crafted weapon landed next to him as if mocking his defeat.

"I ain't finished with you yet!" Saul barked. He failed to stand up with his bleeding wound, but managed to turn around nonetheless. Aghast, he found himself staring at his own crossbow held by the Konoha boy who glared darkly at him.

"But I am finished with you."

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p>"Did you find it?" Sasuke asked when Sakura returned from her little trip.<p>

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "I backtracked all the way to the spot where Naruto disappeared, but couldn't find it. He must have taken it with him."

Sasuke sighed silently, mentally cursing Naruto and his antics. How could he just disappear during something as important as this? Or take the scroll they were given? They were supposed to be a team!

"What do you think he's doing right now?" Sakura asked suddenly, staring at the darkening sky with mild interest.

"Who knows," Sasuke shrugged. "I'd rather not think about him. He'll be fine just like always, trust me."

"I wouldn't so sure of it after what happened in Wave."

"And he's perfectly fine by now." Sasuke let out yet another sigh, leaning his fist against his forehead. "It's getting late. I'll take the first shift. Try to get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours."

"All right."

It didn't take long for Sakura to fall asleep with Sasuke keeping watch. Discreetly, Sasuke activated his sharingan and scanned the entire area for the second time today, trying to spot at least a sliver of Naruto's chakra even if he couldn't possibly recognize it.

He saw something small move on top of branch on the other side of the clearing and was already reaching for a kunai when he realised it was just a squirrel. It stopped every few steps to look around, cautious, until it disappeared completely.

This place was making him jumpy.

Sasuke deactivated the sharingan, seeing no further use for it. He needed to save his chakra for later in case they were attacked in the middle of the night - as unlikely as someone finding them was.

Hopefully they'd be able to find Naruto quickly so they could continue.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up when he almost rolled off the branch he slept on, stopping just in time to avoid plummeting, startled. He had slept surprisingly well after months of having trouble sleeping; was a tree branch truly this great a bed?<p>

He yawned and stretched his arms while shifting his position just enough to let his legs dangle. He was not a morning person, but the circumstances were against his preferred way of living as usual. At least the sun had already risen to the sky, bathing the forest with its light.

"Man, I hate mornings like this." Naruto rubbed his eyes. At times like this, he wished to see the town of New Bodhum when he opened his eyes, to see Lightning and the others again, but he knew far too well that it would never happen again.

When he moved his hands away from his face, he noticed something worrying in the glade - a fight in progress.

"Oh for fuck's sake! I close my eyes and this happens?! Why am I not even surprised?"

Naruto stood up and began look for an ideal landing spot for himself. It didn't take him long to find shorter tree to his right with a long branch that was pointing in his direction. There were lots of tiny branches in the way, but he wouldn't have any trouble landing.

He activated the grav-con unit, took a deep breath and jumped, sailing through the air to his intended destination without any trouble. His momentum carried him forward just enough for him to press himself against the tree trunk where he could easily spy on the clearing. To his surprise, he recognized the three attackers as the weirdo trio who sat in front of his team during the first part of these exams.

"Well, well, well," he said, stroking his chin in thought. Absently, he realised that his beard had started growing again for the first time after leaving New Bodhum over three months ago. This was a bad sign, a very bad sign. At least he wouldn't need to shave, especially when considering that he really didn't want to try his luck by using the gunblade to do it.

"Don't think this is a coincidence, though," he continued, taking in the whole scene. It seemed his team had been unprepared for the ambush and had taken quite a beating already. Sasuke did not look well while Sakura was on her knees with the other girl holding her by her hair.

A hostage situation? This was more pathetic than Naruto had imagined. Good thing he had swiped the scroll from Sakura when he did; they'd have lost it by now without his quick thinking. It was also good thing he had managed to find the other scroll they needed when he searched the dead assassin; the different color was the only reason he even knew that, though.

He needed to think of a strategy. Sasuke couldn't stop these guys if they decided to dispose of Sakura so he needed to be quick, too.

Naruto took a slow step along the tree trunk, just enough have a better look at the situation. Sasuke was near the other side of the clearing, facing the two male members of the attacking team who were at least three or four meters away from him. Sakura and the other girl were a few meters behind and to the right of them, roughly straight ahead of him. The girl was holding a needle, but had not raised her hand into a position where she could stab at Sakura.

After a few seconds of pondering, Naruto came to the conclusion that he needed to help Sakura first and to do that he would need a diversion or something.

A plan formed in his head.

He leapt to a large branch a little lower than his current one and drew his gunblade, crouching with the weapon held steady with both hands, aiming carefully at the black-haired girl.

* * *

><p>"Bastards!" Sasuke cursed, glaring at the two Oto ninjas, feeling nauseous. He couldn't possibly beat them now that Sakura was out of the fight; stupid sound-based melee attacks. The fact that they had arrogantly explained what they could do was proof enough that he was screwed. Victory would require a miracle or at least an excellent plan.<p>

"Should we finish him off already?" the more normal looking one asked the other whose head was wrapped in bandages. "This is getting boring!"

"Seeing that he is too weak to even put up a good fight, I'd say yes," the apparent leader of the trio replied, looking smug.

Sasuke growled at them, turning his head slightly to see Sakura with her eyes wide in fear. The girl holding her was smirking victoriously, raising her hand while holding a senbon between her fingers, ready to stab at his teammate.

"This was a real letdown," the leader said, sighing. "I really expected the last Uchiha to be harder to beat."

Something surprising caught Sasuke's eye when he turned back to stare at the two: he saw Naruto land on a large branch at the edge of the glade, drawing his weapon and aiming it at the girl with both hands. He resisted the urge to widen his eyes like people usually would do in a situation like this, because it would let his opponents know that something was amiss.

Naruto turned towards him and let go of his weapon with his left hand, rising from his crouched position for a moment. Even with the distance between them and the nausea plaguing him, Sasuke saw how Naruto gave him a small wave and a nod before crouching again. An excellent timing, that was something Naruto had a knack for.

"Any last words before I end your life?" the normal looking guy said, pointing his hands at him. Sasuke knew from experience and from their explanations that he had some kind of tubes inside his arms which he could use to manipulate air pressure and sound.

Sasuke grinned, knowing full well that Naruto was only waiting for him to make the first move. "Just a few." He turned towards Sakura and shouted, "Sakura, on my mark!"

The leader scoffed, his single visible eye narrowing. "What do you think you can accomplish? Kin, take her out!"

"Now!"

The girl, Kin, grinned and raised her hand high, about to stab the senbon into Sakura's neck. She was far too slow for her own good; Sakura reacted instantly to Sasuke's shout and drew a kunai while slamming her head backwards to knock Kin off balance. She stabbed the kunai into Kin's shin when her grip refused to fail, but it, too, failed to do much.

_Bang!_

The two other foreign genins froze at the sound, eyes wide, wondering what could have possibly caused such a loud noise. The girl dropped her senbon, staring at her hand in wordless horror, blood leaking from where her index finger was once attached. She let go of Sakura's hair and grabbed her other hand, letting out her first scream of shock.

Finally free, Sakura jumped to her feet and gave the already wounded ninja a nasty kick to the side of her head, sending her to the ground with a cry of pain and knocking her out.

The two guys had already turned around to see what was happening, alarmed to the fact that the tables had suddenly turned. They spotted Naruto standing on the tree branch, aiming his weapon at them in turn with a smirk on his face.

"Who the hell are you?" the leader asked, pointing angrily at Naruto. The other guy had done the same with his hands, ready to unleash his attack at a moment's notice.

"Riddle me this, dumbasses!" Naruto yelled back, putting his weapon back into its holster. Sasuke truly wondered why he did that; he could kill both of the Oto ninjas without trouble, yet he still refused to use his weapon again. "Aren't teams supposed to have three genins? How many do you see now?"

"Where have you been, then? Aren't teams supposed to stick together?" the air tube guy asked.

"Oh, I've been around, I just like to keep my distance." Naruto snapped his fingers and was enveloped in that weird glow of his. He jumped backwards and disappeared behind the tree just as a blast of air swept over his original position.

Now that their attackers were focused on Naruto, Sasuke saw his chance. He rushed forward and slugged the leader in the back of his head then backhanded the other across the face. Had this situation taken place somewhere else, he could have tried frying them both with a fire technique of his, but he couldn't risk setting the whole forest on fire. Hand-to-hand combat was something he'd rather avoid now that he knew exactly why he was so soundly defeated.

"You little shit!" the leader yelled, blocking a punch. He quickly ducked under a follow-up kick and rolled away to get some distance between them. "You really need to learn when to quit!"

"Speak for yourself!" Sasuke retorted, dodging a wild swing from behind and retaliating with a kick to the gut. He wondered where Naruto had gone off to and what was taking him so long. He'd have to keep these guys off him until he showed up again.

Sakura threw a pair of shuriken at the leader who blocked them with his bulky metal gauntlet. He dodged a swing and countered with a jab to the shoulder that stopped the girl's next attack mid-swing. As Sakura recovered, he struck again, this time with a disorienting soundwave that stopped her near instantly. Fortunately, Sasuke was just the right distance away to avoid the effects of the attack and kick him in the back a few times, leaving him wide open for an attack.

The leader staggered backwards from a double punch to the chest, glaring at the two Konoha ninjas. He shifted his gaze to the right and nodded, jumping backwards just as another set of punches and kicks came at him. Sasuke had just enough time to realise what was going on, turn to look at the other ninja he had almost forgotten, grab Sakura by her shoulders and pull her backwards, out of the way of a blast of compressed air that would have sent both of them flying.

"That was close," he remarked, letting go of Sakura.

"Not as close as the next one!"

Sasuke turned to the side and saw the speaker with his hands pointed at them, grinning. There was no way they would be able to get out of the way this time.

The boy clenched his hands into fists and pulled them back, channeling more power to his technique. In a couple of seconds he was ready to blast the two of them away, frozen in place as they were. He extended his hands towards them, about to unleash his powers, when a three consecutive blasts of compressed air knocked him off balance, and his arms now pointed at his own teammate.

It was too late cancel out the technique now, and so he sent his own friend flying ten meters backwards into a tree.

"Dosu!" the shocked Oto ninja yelled, watching his teammate slide down the tree trunk until he was lying on the ground, unconscious. "But how?"

"Already forgot about me, huh?" Naruto asked as he slammed feet first into the boy from above, flipping off him as he fell. The glow surrounding him disappeared with another snap of his fingers as he turned to his comrades. "Well, that was easy."

"What the hell took you so long?" Sakura asked, staring at his handiwork.

Naruto raised his right hand and pointed at it vaguely. "This thing needs to recharge, you know. I am _not_ risking serious injury by jumping from up there."

_Well, that explains it then_, Sasuke thought, ignoring the need to smack the other boy in the back of his head. Was it really necessary to make this so dramatic and flashy on his part? He risked more than his own life with his tricks, but they were alive, all three of them, and that was what mattered the most.

"So, what's our next move?" Naruto asked, letting his hands drop.

"How 'bout dying!"

"What?!"

The trio turned to face the fallen ninja just in time to see he had recovered just enough to turn his head towards them and point his open palm at Naruto's feet, being very close to him despite his earlier backflip. The result was spectacular, and in some other circumstances Sasuke might have laughed at the sight of Naruto flying head over heels straight into a large bush half a dozen meters away.

Before Sasuke had any chance to restrain the downed ninja himself, Sakura had already kicked him in the face and grabbed both of his arms, bending them behind his back so that he couldn't hit anyone with his technique again. The guy screamed in pain, pleading for her to stop.

"Keep him down, Sakura," Sasuke said, rushing to the other direction. "I'll check on Naruto."

"I'm all right! I'm all right!" Naruto's voice called out as his hand stuck out of the bush, covered in leaves and twigs. Sasuke caught his hand and pulled the other boy out, glad that he had not injured himself. "Wow, getting sucker punched by an idiot certainly wasn't part of the plan."

Sasuke smiled slightly at the comment; when did anything go according to Naruto's plan? "At least you saved us."

Naruto shrugged, turning to face him. "Well, how am I supposed to get through these exams without you guys? I even got the second scroll we needed. Wouldn't want that to go to waste."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as they started to walk back to Sakura. He had noticed two scrolls on him, one protruding from each pocket, but hadn't paid any attention to them until now. "How and when did you do that?"

"Saved your asses from an assassin last night. Don't ask."

"Didn't even cross my mind."

* * *

><p>After a brief conversation Naruto handed both of the scrolls over to Sasuke. They decided to leave for the tower after tying up Zaku's arms to prevent him from attacking them again. Since none of them had anything that could be used, they decided to search his teammates for something appropriate.<p>

Sakura stayed with Zaku, keeping his hands restrained despite his attempts to break free, while Sasuke and Naruto went to search the others.

While Dosu had nothing worthwhile, they found wire strings on Kin which they used to tie up Zaku's arms. They left the clearing almost immediately afterwards, trusting the Oto ninjas to survive the ordeal; none of their injuries were life-threatening and while Sakura had expressed concerns for Kin, Sasuke and Naruto had argued that they didn't have time to worry about an enemy who had just tried to kill them.

The rest of the trip to the tower was uneventful; no one attacked them and the alledged deadly, giant animals didn't show up. It was almost sunset when they arrived and went in, finding no one in the lobby. Since the instructions were to not open the scrolls until they were inside, they decided to do just that after a short argument.

The moment they opened the scrolls, they began to emit smoke and were dropped to the floor, coincidentally forming a cross.

* * *

><p>"Glad to see you're all in one piece!" Iruka smiled at them. "Did you have any trouble while on the way here?"<p>

"Aside from a team of Oto genins, not really," Sasuke answered with a shrug, not bothering to question why the scrolls had summoned him.

"Oto, you say?"

"Yes. The symbol on their headbands was a musical note."

Iruka scratched the back of his head in thought. "Well, they must be a new village or something since I've never heard of them. I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble."

The team exchanged glances but didn't say anything to him; better to stay quiet about that. They did shake their heads as a "no", though.

Iruka smiled again and asked another question that was somewhat bothering him: "So, you didn't see any other teams in the forest?"

Again, they shrugged and shook their heads. It had been the subject of some wonder, but they had chosen to ignore it.

"Really? Twenty-some teams and you only met one?" Usually there was much more clashing between different teams, even between ones from the same village. But only one?

"Well, there was that one guy who tried to kill these two," Naruto remarked, gesturing at the others. "I took care of him without much of a problem. Don't know about his team, though."

Iruka looked ready to ask about that, but Sakura quickly intervened. "So, do we pass or not?"

"Huh? Oh, uhh, yeah! Yes, you do pass! Congratulations, all three of you! You are the third team to get here." He clapped his hands while smiling again. "There are still three days left in this part of the exams so you'll have to wait until then. Please, do not exit this tower or cause a ruckus while in here, understood?"

"Understood!" Team Seven answered in unison.

"I'm counting on you, remember that!"

With a puff of smoke, Iruka disappeared, leaving them alone in the lobby once again. They headed for the next room to meet the other teams that had gotten here, glad for a moment of respite after hours of trekking.

* * *

><p><strong>Done! Only took me most of the summer. Anyways, <strong>**happy birthday to me! Yes, I'm uploading this on my birthday after delaying for 3 weeks. I'm 18 now (FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-) and you know what that means, right? Military service, having to get a fucking job, dentist appointments are no longer free of charge! And that's just the start...**

**At least the spellcheck is back.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally there would have been some Ship Tease between Naruto and Kin, including the line "He's so dreamy!" during the fight with Kiba (Note: the finger being shot off scene _was_ in the original drafts). Idea was discarded because it would have been, honestly speaking, pointless and unfitting - not to mention stupid as hell.**


	13. The Preliminaries

**And welcome back!**

**Status is now 27600 hits, 115 favorites and 107 alerts.**

**This chapter covers the preliminaries with the exception of Naruto vs Kiba which is what the next chapter is about. You'll also notice that I've skipped over most of the fights with a carefully placed scene; hey, it's better than "(skip these cuz their same as canon)"! As an... apology... I've made Sasuke's fight noticeably longer and more detailed than it usually is in other stories.**

* * *

><p>The PreliminariesThe Unnecessary Process Of Elimination

"_Since there's an unusual number of prevailing genins, we've decided to hold a preliminary round_."

* * *

><p>Three days had gone by quickly even though the tower had offered very little to spend time with. Naruto had spent most of his time staring out of random windows, actively avoiding other people like rabid behemoths, reminiscing about things. He had barely seen anyone else, let alone spoken to them.<p>

Right now, he was standing with the other genins while listening to the Hokage talk about the exams, something about them being a replacement for war between nations or something like that. He didn't pay any attention to the old man, preferring to let his eyes wander around without letting others know how little he cared about the speech.

They had all gathered at an arena of a sort at the top floor, all twenty-one of them. They stood in three ranks with each team forming one line, facing the Hokage and the gathered jounins and chuunins who stood in front of a large statue of two hands forming a hand seal of sorts - there were five large windows behind it, with the middle one larger than the others while the upper left one was black. Naturally, Naruto had taken the back spot, standing between a silver-haired guy with glasses and a half-sleeping boy he vaguely remembered from the academy. Sakura stood in front of him, and Sasuke in front of her.

Looking to his right, he saw more familiar faces from the academy; to his left he saw three faces he'd rather not have seen again - the Oto team. He was surprised when he realised they had managed to find another scroll and get to the tower when one of them most likely had a nasty concussion and another had her finger shot off. Stupid Sakura and her decision to ruin a perfect headshot.

Naruto noticed that the Hokage had finally stopped talking and had let another man continue. It seemed it was time to explain what exactly they were supposed to do now. He could have sworn the old fart would have kept talking for hours.

"My name is Hayate Gekkou," the man introduced himself. He covered his mouth with his hand for a moment and coughed a little, revealing that he wasn't the healthiest man alive. With some squinting, Naruto realised the guy had bags under his eyes. Why did this village allow a sick man to do his job instead of telling him to go home and get some rest?

"Since there's an unusual number of prevailing genins, we've decided to hold a preliminary round," Hayate explained. "These matches will be one-on-one and will end when there is a clear victor. Injuring your opponent is allowed, but I - and the other jounins present - have the right to step in, if it goes too far. We would like to avoid casualties at all costs. Am I understood?"

Most genins answered "yes" in unison, but Naruto noted that he and the boys next to him chose not to.

Listening to the guy's explanation made him wonder if whoever came up with this was perfectly sane; surely twenty plus candidates was better than just the ten that would remain for the third and last part of the exams. Wouldn't that also guarantee the village actually got more chuunins? Maybe the last part of these exams was tricky like the first one was.

From his peripheral vision, Naruto saw the silver haired boy raise his hand slowly and unsurely. He turned his head slightly to see the other boy better.

"Yes, what is it?" Hayate asked.

"Can I still withdraw?" the boy asked much to the jounin's confusion. "I'm still injured from the trek through the forest, and I fear that a fight would only aggravate my injuries." He lowered his hand and winced, holding his side.

"If you are sure of it, you can leave. No one is forcing you to stay, so go get some rest."

The boy bowed his head slightly and left, holding his side. To Naruto it felt a bit strange; he hadn't shown any signs of being injured when they gathered here. Maybe he hadn't just paid enough attention to him.

Hayate coughed again, diverting Naruto's attention back to him. He had almost forgotten where he was. Even if he didn't care about the exams one bit, this _was_ important for now.

"Alright, we'll use this handy computer to select the first two combatants. If your name does not come up, please leave the arena." He gestured at the black window, now revealed to actually be a computer screen, which started to rapidly go through the names of every genin present; one name at the top, the other at the bottom with what Naruto - unable to read - thought was "vs" in the middle.

_Wait, a computer? _Naruto thought in confusion. He didn't know this world had computers nor had he ever seen one. He knew television existed since Danzo's restaurant had one mounted on the wall, but computers? How did he miss something like this?

The computer stopped going through the names, leaving the names of the combatants on the screen. Everyone except Sasuke and a masked teammate of the guy who just left moved out of the arena and onto a pair of long walkways bolted to the sides of the room a good ten meters off the floor. They stretched from the sides of the statue with a flight of stairs at the end, next to the large entrance door.

It was interesting to note that most of the teams from Konoha had gathered on the left side of the statue while every foreign team gathered on the right. It felt a bit weird, but at least there was one Konoha team keeping them company, even if it was the one with only two people remaining. The jounins who were not team leaders had left the room while the Hokage and the proctors of the previous parts of the exams occupied the same side as the majority of Konoha ninjas.

Naruto sat down on the handrail, leaning against the wall with one leg resting on top of handrail. Sakura and Kakashi were standing a little distance away from him with the other teams further away.

Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

* * *

><p>"Begin!"<p>

The combatants took their fighting stances, but did not move just yet. Sasuke had a feeling this guy had something up his sleeve, something that would prove disastrous if he charged blindly at his opponent; otherwise he would have attacked already.

Yoroi's appearance was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth that hung around his neck, sunglasses that obscured his eyes and forehead protector which he wore like a bandanna. He also wore what appeared to be the standard attire of his team consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, navy-blue shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, pants, sandals and fingerless gloves.

Yoroi's hand reached into a pouch at his waist, and Sasuke instinctively reached for a kunai and activated his sharingan. He deflected two of the thrown shuriken and dodged the third by sidestepping. A fourth one flew past his head, missing him by a couple of inches.

Sasuke flung the kunai at a charging Yoroi, who deflected it with one of his own, and drew another. He had just enough time to raise it and block a swipe from Yoroi. He blocked a kick with one of his own, ducked under a wild swing and uppercut Yoroi in the chin, driving him backwards.

Staggering, Yoroi had just enough to time recover to avoid a kick aimed at his face. He kept walking backwards, blocking or dodging every single attack that came his way.

Sasuke mentally cursed that his sharingan was almost useless - what use was there in predicting and copying someone's movements if you couldn't even hit them? He wished he knew a technique that was at least of some use in this situation, like a genjutsu or whatever the techniques Naruto used were - those seemed so much better than anything he knew.

Briefly lost in his thoughts, Sasuke mistimed his punch, and allowed Yoroi grab his hand.

Yoroi kneed him in the gut, let go of his hand and forcefully pushed him backwards, almost knocking him off his feet. Somehow, Sasuke knew that Yoroi was grinning under that mask of his as he formed a hand seal identical to the one the statue formed, covering his right hand in a blue fire-like glow when he let it drop to his side. With his sharingan, Sasuke could see the increase in chakra flow in the limb and really didn't want to find out what it could do.

"You're pretty good, as expected," Yoroi commented, again taking the same fighting stance as Sasuke. "But let's see how you'll fare now!"

This time it was Sasuke's turn to keep dodging wild swings and kicks, making sure the glowing hand didn't touch him. Once again he was forced to note that just because he could predict his opponent's movements, it didn't mean he could react in time; there were far too many close calls already.

A lucky hook managed to connect with his face despite his best efforts to block it. The blow knocked him off balance, but he recovered just in time to block the next punch by grabbing the oncoming fist by the wrist just before it struck him - unfortunately, this happened to be hand that was glowing.

"This ends now!" Yoroi kneed Sasuke in the gut again, causing him to release the hand he was holding. Staggering, Sasuke could do nothing to prevent Yoroi from expertly sweeping his legs from under him, sending him to floor.

Sasuke tried to rise as quickly as possible, but Yoroi was faster; he crouched on top of his fallen opponent and grabbed his forehead with his glowing hand, pushing it against the floor. Sasuke grabbed the wrist with both hands, trying to force the hand off his head, but soon realised what exactly was going on.

His first clue was that he was starting to have a hard time keeping his sharingan active; the second was when all the strength in his arms disappeared; the third and final one was the familiar feeling creeping throughout his body, like a chill moving down his spine.

"My... chakra?" Sasuke's asked, recognizing the unmistakable feeling of being drained of chakra. "How?"

"So you noticed," Yoroi said, pressing his hand against Sasuke's forehead even harder.

Sasuke let go of his opponent's wrist and deactivated his sharingan, desperately trying to think of a way to escape. He couldn't punch or kick his way to freedom with no strength in his limbs.

He glanced to his right and saw the proctor observing the fight with a critical eye, but not ready to step in just yet. Glancing left, he saw a kunai right next to his hand that he could barely reach with the tips of his fingers. He knew instantly what needed to be done.

"What are thinking about?" Yoroi asked mockingly after seeing how his eyes moved from side to side. "It's over soon, don't worry!"

Sasuke thought about making a witty comment, but decided not to when he finally managed to hook a finger around the kunai's grip and slide it into his hand. He gave his opponent a wide grin, causing him to raise an eyebrow just before the tip of the kunai stabbed into his forearm. The blade barely drew blood due to the lack of strength behind it, but it was enough to disrupt his technique and greatly ease his grip on Sasuke's head.

Summoning all his remaining strength, Sasuke forced Yoroi's hand off his head with one hand, while the other punched him in the face. Yoroi staggered, and a second punch from Sasuke sent him off him and onto the cold floor.

Sasuke rolled to the side and stood up, realising just how much chakra he had lost when the world started to spin in his eyes. He turned to face Yoroi who had stood up and jumped backwards to gain a little distance. "And here I thought I would never face another chakra drainer in my life."

"Another...?" Yoroi asked slowly, before reactivating his technique and charging forward. "Never mind, you're still no match for me!"

The glowing hand narrowly missed Sasuke's head as he leaned backwards to avoid the attack. His vision was refusing to stop spinning which made it hard for him to keep track of his opponent's attacks and dodge them. Sooner or later, a hit would connect and then he would be out of the fight for good - and he couldn't even fight back! What was he supposed to do? He didn't know anything that would help him get away quickly and counter attack - or did he?

Sasuke suddenly had an idea when he thought back to Kakashi's lesson back in Land of Waves; he still hadn't had an opportunity to test his newly learned skill in a combat situation, but maybe this was perfect time for it. He only needed to focus a precise amount of chakra to his feet like Kakashi taught, that's all!

"Catch me if you can, then!" he taunted, sidestepping a wild punch and turning around to make a run for the wall, running past the statue with Yoroi in hot pursuit. When he reached the wall, Sasuke did as he was taught and focused chakra to the bottom of his feet. He halted for a moment before starting to run up the wall with Yoroi doing the same, satisfied he had not forgotten how to do it.

All was going according to plan.

Sasuke reached the ceiling a few seconds later and stopped, slowly gathering more chakra into his feet than was needed. It was a good thing he had screwed up a few times while learning to walk vertically on trees, otherwise he would have never thought of using it to his advantage.

"Take this!"

When Yoroi got within two meters, Sasuke slammed into him shoulder first, propelled by the excess amount of chakra in his feet. The impact threw both of them off the wall and towards the unforgiving floor.

Reorienting, Sasuke swung his fist, hitting his opponent in the face and getting a bit more space between them. He then extended his right leg and spun around, smacking his heel into Yoroi's stomach and providing acceleration for his fall. With the ground a mere ten meters away, Sasuke caught Yoroi - now falling head first towards the floor - by his foot, pulled himself closer, twisted in mid-air and kicked him in the gut with another heel kick that knocked him to the side, into the wall and into unconsciousness. Yoroi rolled over and over down the wall until he hit the floor.

At the last possible moment, Sasuke managed reach the statue with his feet, running down the arm until he repeated his earlier trick and launched himself forward, landing in a roll and only hurting his shoulder instead of breaking his legs.

"Heh, I can't believe that worked," he said, observing the unconscious form of Yoroi lying a few meters away.

"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!" the proctor announced, officially bringing an end to the match.

* * *

><p>"Got to admit, that was pretty impressive," Naruto said, silently nodding his head with an entertained smile on his lips. In front of him, Sakura was cheering at Sasuke while Kakashi was audibly clapping. It had been quite suspenseful even to him, which was why he had decided to sit and wait until the match was over.<p>

Naruto stepped off the handrail and began to walk away, heading for the large double door between the stairs at the end of the walkways. The doors were thankfully open at the moment since two medics had come in to retrieve Sasuke's unconscious opponent with a stretcher.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Kakashi asked when he noticed the boy walk past him. Hearing his question, Sakura turned around, equally curious.

"I need to visit the bathroom," Naruto explained, crossing his arms across his chest. He glared at Kakashi over his shoulder, annoyed that he had to waste even more time.

"Just don't take too long, okay?" Kakashi asked after thinking for a moment. Down below the medics had just loaded the unconscious boy on the stretcher and were starting leave, but not before making sure Sasuke was alright as well. "I'm not sure if your fight can be delayed if you get selected, so be quick."

"I make no promises." Naruto felt it unnecessary to mention that he didn't know the exact location of the bathroom and thus would be blindly wandering around for a while until he found it. He knew he should have drawn a map or something to remind himself where it was.

"Go then, but try not to be late!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

With that said, Naruto gave them one last glare and resumed walking. He really wanted to get out of the room by the time the next two fighters were chosen.

* * *

><p>"What an unexpected way to defeat an enemy!" the Hokage noted with a chuckle. "I can see why he was the best of the class, Iruka."<p>

Iruka smiled in return, leaning on the handrail. He felt embarrassed for thinking the fight was over the moment Yoroi had managed to down Sasuke. He worried too much.

"Ibiki, Anko, what do you think about the boy? Could he be a perfect candidate for promotion?" the aged village leader asked the previous proctors who stood next to him, one on each side.

"I think we should let the appropriate people give their judgement on that, Lord Hokage," Ibiki noted, standing on Iruka's left.

"I know, I know."

"I think he might have what it takes, though," Anko said, smiling widely as the medics finished making sure Sasuke was alright and started to take Yoroi away on a stretcher. Sasuke started to walk up the wall to get to his team, visibly tired after the fight and probably only wanted rest for the time being.

Staring in the same direction as the other three, Iruka almost missed a passerby. It was nothing more than a hint of movement in his peripheral vision that made him turn around and see a familiar face.

"Ah, Naruto! Where are you going?"

Naruto stopped and turned his head towards him. "I really need to visit the bathroom and I don't want to waste too much time."

"Well, don't let me hold you back then."

Naruto nodded, but before he could continue his trek he realised that Iruka was not alone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there, sir." He offered the Hokage a quick salute - one that was wildly incorrect, Iruka noted - and nodded at the two proctors. "Nice to see you again. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Without another word, he continued onward, intending to get through the doors before the medics carrying Yoroi could.

"Odd boy," Anko remarked as Naruto began to descend the stairs.

"Sure is," Iruka responded with a deep sigh, staring at the screen as it began to select the next two combatants. "Hope he isn't late when his name comes up."

* * *

><p>It took far too much time to find the bathroom for his liking. He had almost gotten himself lost a couple of times and in the end had to ask for directions from a nurse on her way to the infirmary to receive the first injured combatant. He didn't know if one or two or maybe three matches had passed while he was away, but now he needed to get back in case he was selected next.<p>

He closed the bathroom door behind him and checked the time from a clock on the opposite wall. He had been gone for almost ten minutes now, enough time for at least two matches lasting as long as Sasuke's did. If that was truly the case, then there was still a one-in-fourteen chance of his name coming up - unless it had already.

Reaching for a particularly annoying itch on his back, Naruto turned away from the clock and began to head back to the arena - only to come face-to-face with an angry girl glaring at him.

"And you are?" he asked, annoyed that he had yet another delay to deal with. He stepped back to get more distance between them and to have a better look of the girl. She had very long, black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end, and black eyes. She wore a headband with a musical note on her forehead, a pale green vest, and snake patterned pants and scarf.

She seemed familiar, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Someone who's got a bone to pick with you!" she almost shouted, pointing at him with her middle finger. It seemed the index finger of her right hand was missing, and a bandage had been wrapped around her hand. "Because of you, I lost my match against that lazy idiot! I couldn't throw a single senbon accurately with one finger missing!"

Something clicked inside Naruto's head as he finally remembered that she was the Oto ninja whose finger he had shot off while in the forest. How the hell did he forget who she was?

"Oh, it's you," he mumbled, pushing past her. "Go away, I don't have time for you."

He could hear her angry growl as she grabbed his shoulder to stop him, fully intending to tell him off. Why couldn't she go bother someone else instead of him? It was her own fault she even got shot in the first place; in fact, she should thank Sakura for saving her life.

"Seriously, bitch, what is your problem?" he asked as he turned to glare back at her. He felt an unbearable need to punch her teeth in and let her choke on them, but held himself back for now.

"I have a name! It's Kin, so use it!"

"I don't care what your name is! You are a bitch and that's what I'm calling you."

"So does that mean I get to call you an asshole, asshole?"

"Be my guest!"

They kept glaring at each other for some time, fuming in rage, until Naruto turned to leave, realising he was wasting time again. He barely got three steps away when Kin yet again stopped him - this time by stepping in front of him, spreading her arms wide to block him off.

"You are not going anywhere until you've answered for what you've done!"

Naruto sighed, letting his right hand settle on the grip of his gunblade, ready to pull it out the moment the girl tried something. "Will you stop yelling already? Besides, it's your own fault you attacked my team. You're lucky I missed when I did, otherwise you'd be lying dead on the ground with a hole in your head."

"What?"

"Look, bitch, I'm sorry you lost, but you brought this upon yourself." The first part was obviously a lie, but the girl didn't seem to realise that. "Now, please, stop bothering me before I blast a hole through your head!" He drew his gunblade and aimed it at her to emphasise that he wasn't kidding - which he actually was since he didn't want to waste a bullet on someone like her. "You are angry over the loss of your finger which is understandable, but screaming at me won't bring it back. Leave me alone! Goodbye!"

Forcefully pushing the girl aside, Naruto holstered the gunblade and resumed walking, hoping he remembered the way back without having to rely on someone else's directions.

"This isn't over, you hear me?! This isn't over, asshole!" Kin yelled out after him, to which he responded by simply giving her the middle finger.

* * *

><p>Naruto arrived just in time to witness the tail end of a fight between a boy wearing green and another who had a big gourd strapped to his back. The one in green was moving at such an amazing speed Naruto had hard time tracking him; his opponent, on the other hand, was standing still, letting some kind of sand block every attack coming his way.<p>

Tearing his eyes from the intriguing fight, Naruto climbed up the stairs on his left and made his way to where his team was, offering Iruka a small nod on the way. He may not have liked that many people, but Iruka and Mizuki were two of the few he thought were alright. They were his teachers for a month and he didn't really get to know them, but that was enough for him.

As he got within ten steps of his team, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, along with another jounin who wore the same green outfit as the genin on the arena. He paused for a moment and saw that the match was already over and the two jounins had stepped in to prevent a serious injury. Such a shame; he really wanted to see the fight.

"So what have I missed?" Naruto asked as he reached his team and walked past them to lean against the handrail, steadying himself with his hands. There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"In order or just in general?" Sasuke asked, offering him a glance.

"In general." Naruto was sure those two couldn't even remember the fights in order and thus decided to save them the trouble.

"Well, you missed my fight," Sakura said, sighing heavily afterwards. "Double knockout against Ino..."

His eyebrows rising was the only reaction Naruto gave to the statement. In all honesty, he had expected Sakura to lose immediately against anyone; perhaps she wasn't as worthless as he had thought or maybe Ino was just as worthless as she was.

"You also missed Shino's fight with the Oto ninja who could throw blasts of air around. Then there was some family drama between Hinata and her cousin. She almost got killed!"

"Interesting. What else?"

Sasuke frowned at his lack of care for this Hinata girl, but didn't comment on it. "There was a fight between Tenten and Temari, and-"

"Who and who?" Naruto interrupted, unfamiliar with both names.

"Do you actually even want to know who they are?"

"I guess not." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, wondering why he even asked the stupid question. "Anyways, you were saying?"

Sighing, Sasuke continued from where he left off, while Sakura pressed her hand against her face.

"There was also a fight between Kankuro from Suna and Misumi. Am I forgetting someone?" The question was directed at Sakura.

"There was that fight between Shikamaru and that Oto girl - Kin, I believe she was called - right after you left," she answered without a pause. "It was one of the shorter ones."

"Yeah, and the bitch blames me for it," Naruto said, shaking his head. Feeling his teammates inquisitive stares burning into him, he elaborated, "Met her on the way here. Kept insisting that it was my fault she lost."

"Please, tell me you didn't hit her."

"Wanted to, but sadly didn't."

There was puff of smoke right next to them as Kakashi reappeared. "Oh, Naruto, you're back!" he exclaimed with a smile - at least, that's what Naruto thought he was doing; you could never know with that mask of his. "You missed quite a lot of the fights."

"I know," Naruto replied with a shrug. "By my count the one that just ended was the eighth, right? Two more, then!" The small grin on his face vanished when he thought of something. "Wait, how long was I away?"

"About fifteen minutes or so. You're lucky your name didn't come up in the meantime."

Another shrug.

From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sakura turn her gaze upwards towards the computer screen which meant it had started to cycle through the remaining four names. As he followed her example and turned his own eyes towards the screen, he realised he had forgotten to ask who the previous two fighters were, but swept the thought aside as pointless.

The screen stopped once again, causing Naruto to turn to his teammates to know if his name had come up; he had almost begun to regret he hadn't learned to read this world's alphabets.

"Not you," Sasuke said with a shake of his head. "It says 'Dosu Kinuta versus Chouji Akimichi'."

"So, I get to be last, huh? Works for me!" He turned around, climbed onto the handrail and leaned against the wall like he had done fifteen or so minutes ago. He watched the familiar, slightly hunched form of the last remaining Oto genin start to make his way down to the arena floor from the other side of room. Looking around, Naruto spotted the other combatant: a fat boy wearing a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs. His brown hair reached all the way to his waist.

This would be interesting, he mused. Perhaps this would make up for all the other interesting fights he missed.

* * *

><p>Dosu waited patiently for the proctor to announce the start of the match. He had already analyzed the chubby, older boy and determined that a simple, paralyzing counter strike with his Melody Arm would be enough to win this fight and show that his team was not full of pushovers despite his teammates' humiliating defeats.<p>

"Both of you ready?" the proctor asked, then coughed a little.

Dosu wondered why a sick man was picked to be the proctor, but nodded nonetheless as did his opponent.

The proctor raised his hand, looked at both of them and quickly lowered it. "Begin!"

Dosu prepared to take a fighting stance when his opponent's teammates yelled out to him and he stopped to hear them before taking action.

"Do your best!" yelled the black haired boy who had beaten Kin - where was she, anyway? - with his trickery.

"Go, Fatty!" the blond haired girl added eagerly.

Dosu watched as the fat boy twitched in anger, clenching his teeth and mumbling about how he had told them not to call him that. Ah, a berserk button Dosu would exploit without mercy.

"Should I end this quick, Mister Fatty?" Dosu asked, rubbing his right wrist in anticipation. He smiled in glee as the Konoha boy glared at him with burning anger in his eyes.

"Are you talking to me, you bandaged imp?" he asked in a dangerous tone.

"I don't see anyone else who I would be addressing as that, Fatso."

Dosu could almost see flames in the boy's eyes and hear something snap inside him as he narrowed his eyes. "That's it! You are really going to get it now!" He formed a ram hand seal, much like the statue of one to Dosu's right, and then another which resembled a bird seal.

The smile on Dosu's face dropped instantly and he took two involuntary steps backwards when he looked at the results of the technique. The fatty had at least doubled in size, his torso swelling but his limbs remaining mostly the same. He looked like a giant balloon on legs.

So great was his surprise that Dosu didn't take advantage of the obvious opening that would've ended the match right then and there. He only snapped out his stupor when the fatty's limbs and head suddenly tucked in and chakra started to surge outwards, propelling him forward as a boulder of fat, heading straight for the surprised Oto genin.

Dosu managed jump to the side just before the giant boulder of doom squashed him like a bug. In a surprising show of maneuverability, the rolling ball quickly turned around.

Dodging again, Dosu understood what exactly he needed to do to win, eyeing the wall under the walkway his team had gathered on.

He ran straight at the rolling pile of fat as it made a wide turn and started to come towards him again. Some might have thought he was crazy for attacking his opponent head on at this state, but he had a plan that would ensure his victory.

At the last moment, Dosu jumped to the side to avoid the human boulder and kept running until he stood with his back against the wall, facing the rolling pile of lard heading his way. He waited patiently for the boy to get close, vigilant of any subtle changes in direction that would've hampered his dodging in either direction. Not having learned anything, the Konoha boy rammed into the wall half a second after Dosu had sidestepped and stopped, his limbs popping back out and the chakra flow that propelled him onward ceasing.

Chuckling, Dosu admired his handiwork and enjoyed the looks of shock the fatso's teammates were giving him from the other side of the room. All had gone according to plan. The older boy hadn't even realised just how easy he had made his defeat.

Dosu pressed his right hand against his unmoving opponent and flicked his left index finger against his Melody Arm, creating an intense sound wave that kicked up a cloud of dust and dirt and instantly knocked his opponent out. When the cloud settled, the boy was lying on the ground, unconscious, and had returned to his original size.

"Not sure if you were even aware of what I could do," he said, staring victoriously at his fallen opponent, "but making yourself bigger was the last thing you should've done against me. Seventy percent of human body is composed of water, and water transmits sound. The bigger you are the easier it is for me to defeat you." Dosu wasn't sure if the boy could even hear him, but he felt like gloating.

"Winner: Dosu Kinuta!" the proctor announced as he walked to check on the chubby.

Dosu nodded wordlessly and started to make his towards his own team, but not before stopping for a moment when his sensitive ears picked up slow clapping from the other side of the arena - the Konoha side. He saw a boy sitting on the handrail with his back against the wall, applauding at his success while his teammates stared at him like he had gone insane. To his great amazement, he noticed the team was the same one his own had attacked in the forest, and the one who was clapping was the blond kid who had come to his friends' rescue at the last moment.

How interesting.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, what the hell?!"<p>

The clapping boy ignored Sakura's question. He had a hard time preventing himself from bursting out laughing at the short match and its conclusion. In his opinion, that was definitely worth all the fights he had missed. He hadn't expected to find himself applauding a foreign ninja who had tried to kill his teammates - not that he cared about them beyond the fact that he was forced to stand them and their idiocy for the rest of his life.

"I'm not allowed to applaud or something?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yes! But, but Chouji is our friend!"

"Not mine!"

Sakura sighed and shut up, realising it was pointless to argue with him. Why did she even see fit to start an argument if she wasn't going to see it through?

"You know, Naruto," Sasuke began, and Naruto almost groaned. "You _really_ need to lighten up! Most of the time, you're acting like the whole world is against you."

"What if that's what I feel like?"

"Ah, that's good to know, Naruto!" Kakashi exclaimed, once again smiling under that stupid mask of his. "We are finally getting to know you better!"

Naruto groaned and buried his face in his hands, shaking his head. Why did everyone try to act so friendly when he clearly didn't give a shit about them?

"Seriously though," Sasuke continued. "Stop moping around! I mean, my family was killed, and do you see me acting like that?"

"You at least had one!" Naruto retorted, pointing at the other boy, growing angry with the continued annoyance that called itself Sasuke Uchiha. "Mine died when I was born."

Confusion was clear on the faces of his teammates, and he realised he was revealing more info than he wanted to. This was why he didn't like getting angry over idiots like them; he knew he would end up blurting out information he didn't want to share.

"I thought you had a mother," Sakura said, puzzled.

"Adoptive one." Naruto grabbed his cape by the tip and extended his arm to the side as if to emphasize his next point. "This coat is a replica of hers. I still think my pants don't go together with it, though."

"And that glove of yours?" Sasuke asked, pointing at the hand in question.

"Gift from her."

Medics had finally loaded Chouji on a stretcher and were just leaving; it was time to shut up and prepare for his own fight. He could almost feel question the three morons were about ask him, so he swiftly silenced them with wave of his hand, stepping down from the handrail.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it and I have a match right about now."

They turned to look at the screen above as it began going through the names again. Naruto wondered why it even cycled through all the names when there were only two whose names hadn't come up yet. Who designed this thing?

The computer stopped within five seconds, leaving the last two names on the screen.

* * *

><p><strong>Took me almost a month! Damn school is on again and I don't like it! And I restarted KH2 for maybe the thirtieth time in my life and spent at least an hour a day playing it. Then there's RE6 coming next week and XCOM a week after that. Do you know what that means?! More delays!<strong>

**I have also finished my low level game of FF8 which is also my second time of finishing the game ever! Ultimecia is still the best final boss (although not the best villain) in any FF game par none - thus far. Also: for the first time _EVER_ I have both faced and defeated Omega Weapon and I am feeling great! YOU FEEL THE PAIN, OMEGA WEAPON?! YOUR ASS IS MINE! MINE! MINE! I DID IT, YOU'RE DEAD!**

**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAHAAA  
><strong>

**Fun Fact: This story was originally supposed to last for 13 chapters (the whole wave arc was 1 chapter, chapters 3 and 10 didn't exist, and 5 and 6 were 1 as well) with a prologue (in addition to the epilogue) that would have revealed how the dimensional rift was first discovered. This would have been a reference to 13-2.**


	14. The Match

**Welcome again!**

**Status is now 30500 hits, C2 4, 120 favorites and 115 alerts.**

**A few weeks ago, I might have spent some time discussing how much Capcom screwed up Resident Evil 6, but I decided that it's not worth the effort. Just to keep it short, I'll say that unless you are a guy who likes Resident Evil no matter what or just buys new games when they come out, save yourself from the huge letdown the game is, okay? It's not worth it. Buy Xcom instead, that game _is_ worth your money most of the time. I say most of the time, because the amount of unfairness and cheating the enemy does is horrifying (teleportation when off-screen, really?).**

**Hope you enjoy the conclusion of the preliminaries!**

* * *

><p>The MatchOne-On-One At Last

"_Wish me luck!_"

* * *

><p>"Naruto Farron versus Kiba Inuzuka," Sasuke read out loud, although Naruto already knew his name was on the screen. Kiba, however, was a total surprise despite him being the only one else who hadn't had his match yet.<p>

"Kiba would be the jerk I threw your book at, right?" Naruto asked, turning to face Sasuke.

"The very same."

"Oh, goody." Naruto had hoped he'd never have to interact with the dog boy ever again, but it seemed luck was not on his side. "Wish me luck!" he remarked with a grin laced with fake enthusiasm.

"You didn't wish either of us luck, so why should we?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, good point."

"Why are you still here?" Kakashi asked after a moment of silence, staring at the unmoving boy in confusion. "You should be going already."

"In a moment," Naruto said, leaning back just enough to see that Kiba had just walked down the stairs and would be on his designated spot soon.

"You're going to jump down, aren't you?" asked Sasuke in turn, completely deadpan.

Naruto didn't answer verbally; he simply gave them a lighthearted chuckle and leaned backwards until he flipped over the handrail, snapping his fingers as he did. He quickly turned around and floated down gently, glowing blue. Another snap of his fingers later the grav-con unit deactivated, and he stopped glowing.

He could almost feel people staring at him, but he ignored it; he had match to focus on.

* * *

><p>"Now, I understand what you meant back in Land of Waves," Kakashi nodded, staring at Naruto as he took his place opposite of Kiba.<p>

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, turning his head to face him.

"You mentioned he jumped off the roof of the academy and was alright afterwards. That glow he envelops himself in is the only possible explanation for it."

"Did we really say something like that?"

"I don't remember," said Sakura with a shrug, refusing to even turn her attention from the two genins on the arena floor.

Kakashi sighed, knowing they should just forget that he even opened his mouth in the first place.

* * *

><p>"Both of you ready?" the proctor asked, looking them both one at the time. He got two nods and so he brought his raised hand down. "Begin!"<p>

Staring at Kiba with his arms crossed over his chest, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to watch his back during this fight. It was a strange yet familiar feeling, one he had grown used to back on Gran Pulse where gorgonopsids and other dangers lurked behind every rock - sometimes literally.

"Not attacking, huh?" Kiba taunted, taking a stance identical to the one everyone who had been in the academy had used.

Naruto didn't respond. He turned sideways, keeping his eyes on the dog boy, and unbuttoned his coat, while discreetly selecting a sequence on his manadrive. As he unbuckled the coat's belt as well, he could see Kiba was hesitant and didn't feel like attacking just yet, shifting awkwardly from one foot to another. What was he waiting for?

Just as he began to reach for his gunblade, Kiba shouted, "Akamaru, now!"

"What!?"

Naruto didn't have time to react before he felt teeth sink into his arm just below the elbow. Eyes wide, he tried to frantically shake off his attacker which he recognized as the big dog Kiba was always seen with.

"Hey, hey, hey! What the shit?! Wasn't this supposed to be a one-on-one match?" His outraged question was directed at the proctor who stood like a statue several meters away.

"The dog is not forbidden from helping," the proctor said simply. "Sorry!"

Looking to the side, Naruto saw Kiba on all fours like a dog, his fingernails grown to claw-like lengths. He was about to charge, and Naruto was still being bitten by his loyal pet. This was his plan all along!

In a split second decision, Naruto yanked his right hand to the left, pulling the dog along, and pressed his left hand against the side of the animal. An instant later, its fur ignited from the point-blank fireball, and it let go of his arm, yelping in panic and rolling on the floor, trying to extinguish the flames.

"No, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled in shock, one hand reaching towards his beloved pet. "How?"

Angrily inspecting the bloody marks the dog's teeth had caused, Naruto cursed his opponent. He knew now why he had had the sudden feeling of foreboding. He should have been more careful.

"How did you do that?" Kiba asked, aghast.

"Magic," Naruto mumbled, mostly to himself than to Kiba. He looked at the flames burning the big animal and felt a tiny amount of sympathy for it. It was unusual for him to even care about animals, but perhaps it reminded him of his first encounter with a leyak during a trip to a research site in Yaschas Massif. The little spook had thrown a fireball at him when he had ventured too close to it, but fortunately only his hair had caught fire and it was immediately put out.

A pair of spheres made of water launched themselves from his hand when he jerked it towards the distraught dog, extinguishing the last of the flames. The dog let out what seemed to be a sigh of relief, but did not rise from the floor, its otherwise white fur now charred black.

"Now that that's out of the way," Naruto remarked, "shall we continue?"

"Way ahead of you!"

Naruto didn't have time to turn around before Kiba slammed his shoulder into his back, sending him forward and off his feet.

* * *

><p>"And now, I know why you asked about that glove of his."<p>

From his peripheral vision, Sasuke saw Kakashi nod his head with a fist held against his chin. Hadn't Kakashi witnessed Naruto throwing fire or water from his hand before? Sasuke had been convinced everyone knew he could do that, but the shocked staring of the other genins spoke otherwise.

"It is an impressive device," Kakashi continued just as Naruto got up from the floor after Kiba's shoulder tackle sent him off his feet. "Do you know what else it might do?"

"Please, can you just watch the fight to the very end before you ask? Please?" Sakura asked, turning away from the fight to give their teacher a stern glare. It seemed she, too, was not fond of Kakashi's interruption.

"If you say so!"

Sasuke remained quiet, staring at the ongoing fight. Kiba had gone on the offense, attacking wildly and leaving Naruto no time to retaliate. Naruto hadn't drawn his weapon yet, so it seemed he wasn't taking this seriously even after setting Akamaru on fire like it was nothing - at least he put out the flames before the dog had a chance to die.

* * *

><p>"Stay still!" Kiba yelled, narrowly missing with yet another swipe.<p>

"Why should I?" Naruto asked and jumped backwards. "Seems counterproductive to me."

Taking a few more steps backwards, Naruto suddenly felt something large and solid against his back. Preparing for another surprise attack, he turned around and realised that it was concrete wall just under the spot where his team was standing. Maybe this had been Kiba's plan all along now that his dog was out of the fight. Pretty clever, he had to admit.

"Now, I have you exactly where I want you to be!" Kiba announced with barely contained eagerness for vengeance and victory. From the corner of his vision, Naruto saw him charging forward, spinning like a drill until Naruto couldn't see anything more than a colorless, spinning mass heading straight for him.

The only thing going through his mind was the word "fuck" repeating itself over and over again. He stood there, frozen in place, face twisted in an expression of terror.

Naruto managed to recover just in time to step to the side and let Kiba slam into the wall. To his horror, Kiba didn't knock himself out like the fat boy, but instead had carved a large depression into the wall going from where Naruto used to stand all the way to the nearest corner.

Kiba had stopped for now, trying to regain his bearings.

Naruto thought about pulling out his gunblade and blasting a hole through Kiba's body, ending this match right away. He abandoned the thought when he realised Kiba's hadn't missed completely - the tip of his cape was shredded. He probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't seen pieces of red fabric on the floor right where Kiba first touched the wall. Apparently when he had dodged, his cape hadn't been so lucky and had gotten caught in the attack, tearing at least a quarter of it to shreds.

Naruto frowned, glaring at Kiba who once again formed a drill and charged. Suddenly the idea of ending this with a simple pull of the trigger didn't sound so appealing to him.

Snapping his fingers to activate the grav-con unit, Naruto jumped to the side and ran up the wall just as Kiba smashed into the spot he had occupied. He ran across the underside of the walkway, flipped over the edge and landed horizontally on the handrail. Without looking downwards - from his perspective - he took off his coat and threw it, unwilling to see more damage done to it. This was why he had unbuckled and unbuttoned it in the first place after feeling that the fight was going to be a bitch.

Now, how to kick the shit out of an annoying idiot?

* * *

><p>"Naruto, what are you doing?!" Sakura demanded, while Sasuke took the thrown coat from his face. Kakashi noted that the cape was shredded.<p>

"Going to kick his ass," Naruto remarked calmly, turning around so he was facing the ceiling. "He should be grateful I decided to save that stupid dog of his."

"Naruto, don't be a petty, vengeful guy!" Sasuke warned in a stern tone, holding the discarded coat in his hands.

"Can't change what I am!" A split second later he leapt backwards, barely dodging a kunai thrown at him, and landed safely on the floor just as the glow vanished.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Sasuke asked no one in particular. Down below Naruto was doing his best to keep Kiba at bay, dodging and countering his blows.

Kakashi stayed quiet, observing the fight, deep in thought. He wanted to know how Naruto always started glowing when he either jumped down or climbed up. Was it connected to the way he snapped his fingers? Was it related to that glove of his? Why didn't he just focus chakra to his feet to walk on vertical surfaces? Surely he knew that the technique existed even though he hadn't been there when Kakashi taught it to his teammates.

Seeing how well Naruto was doing against Kiba, Kakashi felt bad for doubting him. After seeing the aftermath of his fight with Zabuza's accomplice, Kakashi had feared that any fight with him in it would end the same. It seemed his doubt was misplaced, and Naruto was more than capable of handling his opponent despite his wounded arm.

An interesting thing to note was that Naruto always kept his right hand ready to grab his weapon when he wasn't blocking or punching. Kakashi wondered why he hadn't drawn it yet.

There were so many questions.

* * *

><p>Kiba recovered from an elbow to the face just in time to avoid a kick. He was starting to realise his approach wasn't working as hoped; Naruto was skilled enough to dodge or block every one of his moves and still be able to counter. If only Akamaru was still in the fight with him.<p>

A fist came dangerously close to striking him in the jaw, but he managed to take a step backwards. He was supposed to be the better close range fighter yet it was he who was losing. He needed to step up the offense, otherwise he would lose and fast.

Kiba reached for a small pouch on his waist and produced a kunai, swiping it horizontally at his opponent when he got close for another hook to the face. Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, barely dodging a follow-up slash aimed for his chest.

"And here I thought you were out of tricks," Naruto taunted, calmly walking backwards while leaning out of the way of the attacks. "Took you long enough."

"Shut up!" Kiba yelled and threw the kunai. He took out another to replace it immediately afterwards.

Naruto jumped aside and let the blade fly harmlessly past him. As he did so, however, Kiba noticed what exactly lay on the floor not too far behind the annoying blond - Akamaru. A plan formed in his head, and he already felt bad for using his beloved partner in such an undignified way, but surely he would forgive him.

Kiba sped up his swings and thus increased the speed with which Naruto was moving backwards.

When Akamaru's prone form was only a meter away, Kiba gave a victorious smirk, confusing his opponent. A second later, Naruto tripped over Akamaru, who gave a quiet yelp, and landed on his back. Kiba leapt over his companion and would have stabbed his kunai into Naruto's shoulder if the boy hadn't managed to grab him by the wrists with the blade only a few inches away.

They struggled, the tip of the kunai getting closer and closer to Naruto's shoulder despite his best efforts to stop it. His wounded arm was also further weakening his efforts, which didn't go unnoticed by Kiba. Being physically weaker of the two, it was only a matter of seconds before the kunai would sink in.

"Not so arrogant now, huh?"

In a split second, Naruto's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. Growling, he let the kunai stab the floor just above his shoulder, headbutted Kiba and punched him in the chin.

Dazed, Kiba heard him snap his fingers just as a boot struck him in the groin, and a glowing figure flipped over him, using him as springboard and knocking him to the floor.

Naruto snapped his fingers again as Kiba grabbed the kunai and stood up to face him. This time, however, Naruto had drawn the strange metal object from the holster hanging from his belt and was now pointing it at him.

"Any last words before I splatter your brains all over the place?" he asked with a frown. Kiba didn't understand what he meant by that, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to pretty.

"Naruto, don't do it!" Sasuke yelled from his spot, sounding strangely distraught.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled back, turning to glare darkly at his teammate. "Did I start yelling during your fight?!"

Kiba saw his chance; he cleared the distance between them in a second, slapped the metal object to the side and slammed into Naruto shoulder first, almost tackling him off his feet. Using the momentum to his advantage, Naruto spun aside and smacked the side of his metal weapon against Kiba's head, knocking him off balance long enough to kick him in the back.

Kiba turned around quickly and threw the kunai, barely missing his mark, but giving him enough time to draw and throw a shuriken while charging again. The shuriken nicked Naruto's thigh as it flew past him, but to his credit he didn't so much as wince.

Naruto ducked under a wild swing and countered with a kick to the back. Kiba was about turn around for another go when a bolt of lightning struck from above, making him twitch and spasm uncontrollably. A second bolt struck almost immediately afterwards, giving Naruto an opening so wide he wondered why he hadn't taken advantage of it yet.

"H-how are you doing t-this?" Kiba whispered as he stopped twitching, although he doubted Naruto could actually hear his stuttering. He heard a strange sound from behind him, like metal moving against metal.

Almost as suddenly as the lightning bolts, snow and ice began to form around him, and his breath steamed. A split second later the snow froze on to his skin and clothes and then melted, leaving him shivering.

Uncaring about the questions he wanted to ask, Kiba turned around and charged once again. He didn't get far before Naruto spun around.

Kiba stopped the second he felt cold steel slash across his chest.

In shock, he looked down at the lightly bleeding, shallow cut and slowly forced his shaking hand to touch it, to make sure he wasn't imagining things. His fingers brushed against the wound, and he winced, wondering how it had even appeared. With his enhanced hearing he could hear gasps coming from the audience, and he could only do the same when he turned to his opponent.

Naruto now held a sword in his hands.

* * *

><p>"Did you see what I just did?"<p>

"Yes. Yes, I did, Sasuke."

Kakashi had a hard time trying to keep his own surprise from showing. Like pretty much everyone else present, he had been too busy staring at Kiba after the first lightning bolt had appeared out of nowhere and struck him. He had never expected Naruto to be able to do more than throw fire and water from his hand.

"I think that explains something," he said at last.

"Like what?" Sakura asked, turning to him. Despite waiting patiently for Kakashi to answer, her gaze kept wandering to the side, trying to keep an eye on the fight as much as possible.

"Back in Wave, I inspected the body of the ninja who fought with Naruto on the bridge."

"The guy who beat him up?" Sasuke asked, curious. "What about him?"

"If you'd let me finish! Besides, the beating was pretty mutual going by the state of the body, but that is not what I was talking about." He allowed himself to glance to his right, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. Thankfully, everyone had their eyes on the fight.

"Yes?"

Kakashi sighed, annoyed by their impatience. "Before the villagers cleaned up the bridge and buried the bodies, I inspected the body. While the cause of death was the same as with the Demon Brothers, there was a large gash on his back that I couldn't explain since it looked like it had been caused by a blade, and Naruto didn't have one. Or so I had thought."

"I see."

They turned their attention back to the fight, growing more and more worried for Kiba's safety. While Naruto hadn't managed to hit again after the first time, he was still dangerously close to causing more damage with his wild swings. Kakashi could see that Naruto wasn't used to fighting with a sword, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to slice Kiba to ribbons if he ever got the chance.

"I hope they don't kill each other," Sakura muttered, and the others couldn't help agreeing.

* * *

><p>"Stay still, will you?" Naruto felt weird saying that, considering the question was directed at him not too long ago.<p>

"As if!"

Naruto frowned as Kiba dodged another one of his wild swings. He realised that this fight was starting to drag on far too much for his liking. He needed to find a way to finish this quickly.

Naruto stepped to the side and deflected a kunai thrown at him. He then spun around and went for a low, horizontal slash that would have hit Kiba's ankles if he hadn't jumped backwards. The follow-up attack nicked Kiba's upper left arm, but Kiba jumped to the right before the blade could so much as draw blood. Unfortunately for Naruto, however, when he pulled the sword back and went for another blow, Kiba grabbed his arm mid-swing, elbowed him in the chest and wrenched the gunblade from his grasp.

Disarmed, Naruto found himself dodging his own weapon. He would have laughed at the irony of it all, if he wasn't so angry at Kiba for daring to steal it. Flamberge was a gift from Lightning, and now it was in the hands of an annoying idiot. An inexcusable mistake, but thankfully he knew how to get it back.

Kiba was obviously even more inexperienced with a sword than he was, a fact made clear when Naruto dodged a clumsy swing and ducked under another. His crude way of fighting with it looked so bad that it made Naruto feel like he was Lightning. He could still cause serious injuries if he hit, though.

Deciding to put his plan into motion, Naruto dropped low to avoid a horizontal attack and then stood back up just in time to intercept the next blow. Instead of countering and disarming his opponent like one would expect him to do, Naruto caught Kiba by his forearm and quickly used his other arm to flick the switch that made the gunblade change modes. He pushed Kiba backwards and was delighted that he immediately turned back around and went for an overhead slash.

Naruto stayed put, knowing that Kiba hadn't realised the weapon had changed and wouldn't reach its intended target.

The look of shock on Kiba's face was priceless. He didn't have time to comprehend what had even happened before Naruto grabbed the gunblade, pulled it and Kiba towards him and kicked him away, while wrenching his precious weapon back.

Naruto flicked the switch again and didn't wait for it to stop changing before he charged, seeing an opening that would finally end this fight.

Kiba had recovered just enough to draw another kunai and raise it to block the blade. It didn't work nearly as well as intended because Naruto simply pressed harder, causing the much larger blade to slide along the smaller one until it moved past the tip and stabbed into his left shoulder.

Kiba screamed in pain and dropped his kunai as Naruto moved past him, dragged the tip of the blade along the shoulder, spun around and stabbed it into the same shoulder from the side. Pulling the blade out, he raised the gunblade as high as possible with both hands, spun around again and slammed the bottom of the sword's hilt into Kiba's face.

Struggling to keep himself on his feet and trying to stop the bleeding, Kiba wasn't able to do anything as Naruto continued his onslaught with a kick to the hand that was being pressed against the profusely bleeding wound, inflicting even more pain. As one last move, Naruto twisted his body around, reversed his grip on his weapon and slammed his elbow into Kiba's chest, the tip of the blade poking into his thigh.

Naruto turned the gunblade in his hands, flicked the switch and returned it to its holster. For him, the match was over; Kiba could barely stand and his dog was still lying on the floor ten or so meters away.

He had won.

Kiba glared at him with a strange mix of defiance and fear in his eyes until his legs finally gave out and he fell over, blood staining the floor crimson.

"Winner: Naruto Farron!" the proctor announced and hastily moved to inspect Kiba. Two pairs of medics ran into the room and made their way to him and his dog.

Naruto turned around, uncaring for his opponent, and made his way to where his team was, using the grav-con unit to walk up the wall.

* * *

><p>Kakashi had moved to lean on the handrail like Sasuke and Sakura were doing when he saw Naruto lose his weapon to Kiba, thinking he'd be at a disadvantage without it. How wrong had he been.<p>

He was amazed by the way Naruto turned the odds against Kiba at a moment's notice, first taking out Akamaru and then beating Kiba in close combat.

The strange weapon Naruto wielded was also very interesting. He had never seen nor heard of anything that could switch between a sword and whatever the other form was. He could only wonder where he had gotten it from; was it another gift from his mysterious adoptive mother?

The number of unanswered questions just kept growing.

"I didn't think he'd be that brutal," Sakura whispered, horrified by Kiba's condition.

"Didn't he brutally beat up the ice ninja back in Land of Waves?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, but he was an enemy out to kill us all," Sakura answered as Naruto began to glow below them. "Kiba isn't the nicest guy in the world, but he is still our friend. If he's unlucky he'll never be able to use that arm again!"

Kakashi sighed as Naruto jumped over the handrail and the glow surrounding him vanished with a snap of his fingers. The conversation died out instantly afterwards, and no one said anything when he took his coat back and put it on.

They stood there silently for a while, staring down to the arena floor as the Hokage made his way to his spot in front of the statue with the previous proctors flanking him.

"Will the winners of these preliminaries please come down and form a row? I will tell you what you need to know about the finals."

Naruto sighed out loud, obviously irritated that he had just climbed up for no reason. He was about to snap his fingers and jump down again when Kakashi thought of something. He wanted to know more about the glow and how it allowed him to defy gravity when needed, but hadn't had the right chance to ask about it. It kind of felt wrong to try to use his sharingan on his own student - especially when he could simply ask later on.

Glowing once more, Naruto jumped down and pulled Sasuke with him over the edge before he had a chance to get out of reach; while Kakashi pulled up the headband from over his eye, making sure it looked like he was trying to get rid of an itch.

Immediately, he had to reign in the powerful urge to gasp in shock, mystified by what he saw.

"Kakashi, are you alright?" Sakura asked, having seen him twitch. "You seem troubled."

Kakashi quickly turned to him, smiling widely. "Just a persistent itch I can't seem to get rid of," he replied, rubbing his hand against his eye to make it seem like that was what he had been doing all along.

"Oh, okay then."

Kakashi lowered the headband, no longer needing his sharingan. He had always wondered if Sasuke knew he had one, considering the sharingan was normally only found among the Uchiha clan, but such a question was meaningless compared to the one that now dominated his mind.

What did he just see?

* * *

><p>"Congratulations on your victories, all of you," the Hokage began, giving the wooden pipe he always seemed to smoke to Ibiki.<p>

The nine winners had assembled in a row just like they had before the first match, standing shoulder to shoulder. Naruto stood near the left side of row, barely containing his annoyance; he wanted to go home, maybe get his arm checked before that, and get some rest.

"You all should get some rest and prepare for the finals. They will be held in the stadium at the outskirts of our fine village after a one month break. Any questions you would like to ask me?"

Sasuke raised his hand. He was standing on Naruto's left as the leftmost person in the row. The Hokage nodded his head, and Sasuke lowered his hand.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why the monthlong break?"

"It lets you prepare yourselves for the finals and will be very important, if you wish to become chuunins. One month is also enough time for you to recover from any injuries sustained today."

Naruto nodded along with many others, finding the explanation to be logical. He was glad to have some free time, but couldn't ignore the growing feeling of dread. At the time of finals, he would have spent total of four months in this village, four months without seeing Lightning. It was making him anxious.

"Any other questions?"

Everybody shook their heads, and the Hokage nodded.

"You are free to leave, then. Good luck to every one of you!" He took his pipe from Ibiki and left with the proctors in tow. Everyone followed soon afterwards, leaving the tower and forest behind.

* * *

><p>"So, does any of you want something to eat?" Sasuke asked as they walked down a street. This was an unusual moment for them since all four of them were still together despite the fact that they had been given permission to go home already. "There's a good ramen stand a few blocks away."<p>

"Shimura Family Restaurant is just behind the corner; no need to go that far." Naruto said. They had gotten his arm checked when they were on their way out of the tower, and had been told that it wouldn't be too serious after the wound had been cleaned and his arm bandaged.

"How do you even know Elder Danzo in the first place?" Sakura asked.

"He's been kind of taking care of me ever since I ran away from the orphanage when I was four."

"Ran away? Why? Why would you do that?"

"Why would I not? I just grew sick of that place. I always wanted to see the world beyond the boring orphanage yard, but to do that people would've had to adopt me." Naruto snorted. "And people rarely visited. And when they _did_, they paid more attention to the more cheerful kids than the kid moping alone in the corner. So, one night I decided to leave that place for good. Can't say that I regret that decision; better on the streets than in there. At least now I don't have to ever hear about passing resemblance to the Fourth Hokage..."

Naruto kept walking for a few more meters before he realised the others had stopped. He turned around and saw that they were looking intensely at him, tilting their heads from side to side. It was fortunate that the street was empty, otherwise they would have attracted a bit too much attention.

"You know, you really do resemble him. The same spiky, blond hair and all!" Sakura exclaimed and laughed a little. "This is so hard to believe."

"You're like a younger version of him!" Sasuke added, eyes wide. "Do you know if you are related or something?"

"No," Naruto answered curtly. "I don't really care even if I was. Hell, I might as well be related to the First Hokage and I still wouldn't give a shit about it. Besides if I actually was the son of a Hokage, do you really think I'd have had to live in an orphanage?"

None of them had an answer. It was clear they were thinking about one, but hadn't come up with it yet.

"Can we get going already?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes. "I'd rather not hear any more comparisons."

They resumed their walking, rounding a corner and continuing until they were at their destination. They were about to open the door and go in when Naruto coughed, catching their attention.

"Tell Old Man that I'll see him tomorrow," he said and turned to leave. "I need to get home and get some sleep."

"Come on, Naruto, can't you wait until we've gotten something to eat?" Kakashi asked after being uncharacteristically silent during the entire trip.

Naruto waved them goodbye and walked away without a word.

Sasuke and Sakura entered the restaurant without thinking much about it, but Kakashi lingered for a while. He noted with curiosity that instead of continuing along the street, Naruto disappeared into the alley behind the restaurant.

"Kakashi, you coming?" Sasuke called out from inside when he saw Kakashi still standing in the doorway.

"Oh, coming!"

Despite being preoccupied with his other students, Kakashi found himself still pondering over one simple question: what had he seen with his sharingan?

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it!<strong>

**Want a hint about what Kakashi saw? Go back to Chapter 9 and pay close attention to what the monster says to Sakura. Also note the conspicuous way I avoided having Kakashi look at Naruto with his sharingan before. "Not so arrogant now" is from the same chapter as well.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: As a potential story idea, Naruto was supposed to be a l'Cie with Diabolos as his eidolon. He would have been able to use all magic spells plus the good old gravija. The idea was discarded because it wouldn't have made much sense for him to even be branded in the first place - not to mention a bit stupid. And, yes, Diablos is my favorite GF in terms of appearance, boss battle and enc-none ability.**


	15. The Finals

**And welcome back!**

**Status is now 33200 hits, 124 favorites and 120 alerts.**

**This chapter is somewhat short and covers the start of the finals.**

* * *

><p>The FinalsThe Prelude Of The End

"_I should get going_."

* * *

><p>The day of the finals had finally come.<p>

This was supposed to be an exciting day, and it was to many people, but to him it was anything but. There was only one thing he should have been excited about, but all the excitement was lost when he thought about the more pressing matters.

He had stayed awake for most of the night, the crushing anxiety keeping him awake and refusing to let him sleep for more than a few hours. The night sky had been clear all night, but he hadn't seen even a glimpse of the moon despite staring out of the hole in his ceiling for hours. He had taken this as an appropriately bad omen.

"I look like shit," Naruto muttered as he stared at his reflection on a broken mirror in the bathroom. He was leaning on the edge of the sink and he had no idea how long he had been doing so.

Finally, he decided he had seen enough of his face for today and walked out.

Naruto made his way to the coat rack and put on his overcoat for the first time in two weeks. The buttons turned out to be the source of great difficulty as his fingers failed to stay steady long enough for him to button them up. In the end, he decided to leave the coat unbuttoned and only use the belt to keep it closed.

Next his attention shifted to his boots. They were placed under the spot where he always hung the coat from, but unlike usual he had chosen to keep his socks on instead of stuffing them inside the boots.

"Ugh, why do I never put these on the table or something?" he asked himself as he crouched to pick them up. He walked to the mattress and sat down to put them on.

Done with the boots, he decided to just lie there with his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. This reminded of all the evenings he had spent staring at Cocoon from the NORA House's porch. It was a beautiful sight he knew he would never forget after seeing it for the first time.

"Mom, will you be there when the time comes?" he asked silently, remembering how he had asked the same question four months earlier. It felt weird to even ask that, considering she had answered him back then, but perhaps he simply wished to hear her say it again, to feel relieved.

Why did he even feel the need to ask in the first place? Lightning had promised to be there and she always kept her promises, like when she had taken him inside Cocoon when he had asked about it. Hell, she had promised to sit next to him every time he found himself staring at Cocoon after sunset, and that was what she did.

Naruto stood up after a while, holding his hands against his forehead. He could already feel a minor headache, but knew he couldn't let it distract him.

"I should get going," he said after checking the time from his pocket watch. The finals would start in an hour and he needed to be on time.

He walked to the night table and picked up his glove, ignoring the dusty headband that had lain there for months now.

A moment later, the glove was on his hand, and the manadrive activated. A week or two ago he had been worried that the glove would become just as dusty and forgotten as the stupid headband, but such worries had proven pointless.

Absently, Naruto reached into his left pocket and produced a folded paper. He unfolded it and spent some time staring at it, recognizing only one word on it - his first name. This paper was somewhat important to him, and he needed to find someone who could read it out to him, preferably someone from out of town. It had taken him several weeks to find it through less than legal means, and he wasn't going to let all those hours go to waste just because he didn't find out who his parents were in the end; he would never admit it out loud, but hearing his team compare him to the Fourth Hokage had piqued his curiosity.

"I don't have long," he muttered, folding the paper and putting it back in his pocket, letting it keep his watch some company.

Naruto closed the pocket and opened the other one to take out the photo he had gotten from Lightning. He stared at it, smiling sadly, tears forming in his eyes. It had been taken over two years ago during a particularly beautiful sunset, and he had never forgotten the day, thinking of it as the happiest moment of his life.

He sighed heavily and put the photo back into his pocket, realising he would be late if he spent the next ten minutes looking at the photo, reminiscing about all the wondrous things he had experienced on Gran Pulse.

He really needed to get going already.

There was one last thing he wanted to do before that, however.

Naruto swiped his hand across the surface of the night table, knocking the headband to the floor along with a large amount of dust. Seeing all those particles float around made him realise just how old his "home" was, layers of dust covering every surface. He probably should have dusted off the place years ago.

He selected a particular sequence on his manadrive and pointed his hand at the headband. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about the only time he ever wore it - when he headbutted Kakashi during his bullshit test. He regretted ever bothering with the damned academy.

He regretted coming back here.

A fireball set the headband alight, burning it to ash that was then drenched in water just in case.

Naruto walked to an old bookshelf under the hole in the ceiling, making sure he had everything he needed. He offered his home one last glance, before he climbed out with a deep sigh.

* * *

><p>"The last customer just left," Nadeshiko informed. "We can close now."<p>

"Thank you, Nadeshiko," Danzo said and nodded. "Go put the sign on the door and lock it. We have twenty minutes before the finals start, so there shouldn't be any need to hurry."

As Nadeshiko headed for the front door, Danzo walked into the kitchen and saw Gentaro was already prepared for departure, having hung his chef's clothes from a coatrack.

"Excited to see how Naruto will do in the finals?" Gentaro asked with a smile.

"Yes, of course. Though, to be honest, I'm more worried about him than anything else."

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen him in weeks now. The last time he stopped by, he asked me if I knew who his parents were. He was disappointed when I told him I did not know them, and I haven't seen him since."

"Why did he want to know that all of a sudden?"

Nadeshiko entered the kitchen with a pile of plates in her hands a few seconds later. She set them down on a table and went to change her clothes.

"We can ask him about it after the finals," Danzo said as Gentaro went to stand next to the back door, ready to open it once Nadeshiko returned. "Let's hurry before we're late."

* * *

><p>Naruto arrived to the stadium with time to spare. The finals hadn't started just yet, so he still had some time to find a suitable person to ask for help.<p>

Currently, everyone was waiting for the proctor standing on the arena down below to call them to him. Even with a cursory glance, Naruto could see that it was not the same one as the month before. It seemed people had finally figured out that a sick man was not the best choice for the job.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sasuke called out, snapping his fingers in front of his face. "This isn't the time for sleeping, you know!"

Naruto could easily understand why Sasuke thought he was sleeping: he was leaning against the wall while keeping his chin pressed against his chest, hiding his face behind his coat's collar.

He turned his head just enough to glare daggers at his annoying teammate.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, taking a step backwards.

"Never better," Naruto said, then coughed quietly.

"I'm serious, Naruto! Are you ill? Should you be staying in bed? Seriously, you shouldn't inconvenience yourself if you are ill. Maybe we-"

"Do you want to find out what it feels like when your hair catches fire?" Naruto asked angrily, pointing his left hand at Sasuke's face to make it clear he wasn't in the mood for his worries. "Not a pleasant feeling, I tell you. Not at all."

"Okay, okay, I get it! Just tell me this: how long have you been sick? Have you told anyone about it?"

Naruto sighed as he pushed himself off the wall. "I think it's been a year or two now, maybe three. I'm not sure really, no one was. It just sort of... happened one day."

Sasuke blinked in confusion, looking him up and down. "But you haven't looked sick for once - well, aside from that cold you caught."

Naruto turned away from Sasuke, sighing again. "Please, drop this issue for now. Have _I_ pestered you like that?"

"Alright then, but you need to visit the hospital after this, if it has lasted that long. I mean it!"

Naruto gave him one last glare before walking away. He made sure the collar stayed as high as possible while pressing his hand against his mouth to mask his coughs, doing his best to avoid hearing the same questions from others. This was one of the rare times he was grateful the coat was not his size; he'd rather explain things only once, instead of wasting his precious time by talking to everyone in the vicinity one by one.

He scanned his surroundings, trying to find a suitable person he could ask to read his paper. He instantly dismissed every Konoha ninja and the trio from Suna; the latter mostly because the red haired boy with a gourd on his back had a murderous glint in his eyes.

He was already about to give up when he saw the only foreigner who was alone - the Oto ninja with the weird, bulky bracelet. He was leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs that led to the arena, staring down them in anticipation.

"Hey, you!" Naruto called out when he got within three meters. He had no trouble believing that the other boy had already heard him coming, considering his powers were based around the manipulation of sound.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Just wanted to ask something."

The younger boy turned to face Naruto, raising an eyebrow when he saw who he was talking to. "You?! What do you have to ask, then?"

Naruto opened his pocket and took out the paper. "I want you to read this out for me," he explained as he unfolded it and handed it over.

If the other ninja's eyebrow could rise any higher, it probably would have when he realised just what the paper was. "Ummm, a birth certificate?"

"Just read it, please." While glad he found the right paper after all, Naruto was already getting agitated; the proctor would call them down any minute now, and then he would never get another shot at this.

"Naruto Namikaze? I thought your nam-"

"Just read, will you?!"

"Uhh, born tenth of October... Time of bi-"

"The parents, if you would."

The boy sighed, annoyed by the sudden insistence. He clearly wasn't enjoying this. "Father: Minato Namikaze; mother: Kushina Uzumaki. Anything else?"

"No."

He was about to give the certificate back when he suddenly froze, staring absently to the side. "Wait a minute," he muttered and withdrew his hand before Naruto could to take back what was his. "Wasn't Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage?"

"As far as I know, yeah," Naruto answered, shrugging.

"You are the son of the Fourth Hokage?!"

"Will you keep it down?" Naruto asked in return, looking around to make sure no one had overheard them. He took the birth certificate back, folded it and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"I didn't know he had a son," the Oto ninja remarked, lowering his voice after realising Naruto didn't want the others to hear about the subject.

"Neither did I, but I don't really care at this point."

"But you're his..." he trailed off suddenly, frowning.

"What?"

The Oto ninja inspected him from head to toe, scratching his chin in thought. "You're paler than before, you keep coughing, your eyes are tired and bloodshot." He closed his eye for a second before continuing, ignoring Naruto's disapproving expression. "Your heartbeat is irregular, too. Are you ill? Perhaps you should be in bed."

"Not you, too!" Naruto moaned, while pressing his hand against his face. "Just don't tell anyone about any of this, okay? I don't need you gossiping."

"Relax, you can trust me on this! It's not something I would do."

"Attention, finalists! Please, come down to the arena and form a row!" the new proctor yelled at long last.

Naruto nodded wordlessly as they started walking down the stairs with the others not too far behind.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to the finals, and congratulations for getting this far," the new proctor remarked. He was dressed in the standard chuunin outfit, vest and all, and was chewing on one of those needles people liked to throw. "My name is Genma Shiranui, and I am the proctor for these finals. The rules of this stage are the same as in the preliminaries: you fight until the other gives up or is too injured to continue. And as before, I have the right to step in if I deem it necessary. Do you have any questions before we start the first match?"<p>

"Uhh, where's that handy computer?" asked the second male member of the Suna team, looking around. He was wearing some black, baggy full body suit and a black hood with cat-like ears which covered his head completely.

Genma snorted, eyeing the boy like he was an idiot. "To hell with those things! I refuse to touch one, especially now when I know just how many people die from electrocution each year. Fuck computers, we're doing this old school!"

People exchanged glances in the row and probably in the audience as well.

Genma reached into right pants pocket, then the left one. Finding nothing in them, he started patting the pockets of his vest one by one, until he found what he was looking for in his back pocket. With a small cry of triumph he showed them a heavily wrinkled paper.

"Everyone's name is written on this paper," he explained, pointing at the words written on it as he did. "We go from left to right in pairs and then do it again with the winners until there's only one left. See? So much more simple than a damn computer! Any other questions?"

"When do we start?" the red headed Suna ninja asked, sounding a bit too excited about it.

Genma looked at the chuunin hopefuls one at the time and saw that they were all ready. "We start right now," he said. He took a look at his paper and announced the first combatants, "Neji Hyuuga and Naruto Farron. Everyone else, please leave the arena."

The genins did as they were told, leaving only the two combatants and the proctor to occupy the arena.

* * *

><p>Naruto folded his hands across his chest and turned sideways, keeping one eye on his opponent, turning his back to Genma and the audience.<p>

Neji stood like a statue, unmoving and stern, staring at Naruto with cold indifference, confident about his upcoming victory.

Genma put away his paper and prepared to start the match, hoping that they wouldn't kill each other.

In the waiting area of the combatants, halfway between the ground and the rightmost grandstand, Sasuke leaned against the handrail, worried.

Up in the stands, Danzo and his friends waited for the match to start with baited breaths.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that was surprisingly hard to write. Also, that last part is shit; I apologise. I couldn't find any other way to end this and decided to go with this sort of thing. Doesn't decrease the shittiness one bit, though.<strong>

**Anyways, please, don't waste time telling me that the way Naruto finds out about his parents feels contrived.**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: This story was supposed to last way, way longer in the original drafts, but then I realised there would be no real point after the finals. Sasuke would never defect, the Akatsuki would have no purpose, and all that. Hold on, are you complaining about spoilers about the story's length? Didn't Chapter 13's Fun Fact already allude to it? Or this chapter and the whole "The Prelude Of The End"?**


	16. The Fated

**Hello again!**

**Status is now 36500 hits, 136 favorites and 130 alerts.**

**Well, I have nothing else to say so...**

* * *

><p>The FatedThe Truth Revealed

"_You are the son of the Fourth Hokage?!_"

* * *

><p>"Ready?" Genma asked. He got a nod from Neji and a shrug from Naruto as they stared at each other. "Begin!"<p>

Genma took a few steps backwards to get some distance, but as he did so he noticed Naruto turning slightly to look over his shoulder. Their eyes met for a second, and then the genin turned back to his opponent with a sigh. Genma wondered if he had wanted to say something, but saw it unnecessary to ask about it.

"You might as well give up, you know," Neji said, narrowing his eyes at Naruto who coughed a little. "There's no way you can beat me."

"Well, if that's true, then why not come at me? Surely you don't need to use any tricks to do that. I've heard about your 'byakugan', and if you can't beat me without it, then surely it's you who should give up."

Neji frowned and assumed his family's fighting stance. "Well, if you're so sure of yourself, then why not?"

Naruto chuckled as he unbuckled his collar and turned to completely face his opponent, cracking his knuckles. Genma noted that the boy was surprisingly pale, and that his eyes were tired and bloodshot. Was he sick? If so, why was he here and not in bed?

"Then what are you waiting for?" Naruto asked with a thin smile. "Come and get me."

Neji charged immediately afterwards. He was aiming for Naruto's right shoulder, intending to disable his arm right off the bat. Even without his byakugan to aid him, a single touch with his hand would be enough to do so.

To Genma's great surprise, Naruto pushed Neji's offending arm to the side just before it hit, letting the momentum carry him past his target. It was an unusual strategy when fighting against a Hyuuga, considering no one in their right mind would have let one anywhere near them.

"You suck!" Naruto taunted as he kicked Neji in the lower back.

"Bah, you're only delaying the inevitable," Neji remarked as he turned around and threw a kunai.

Naruto whipped out his metal weapon and deflected the thrown blade. He used his momentum to dodge another palm strike from Neji and smacked the weapon against the back of his head. He then went on the offensive, planting his fist into Neji's face the second he turned his head. Before Neji had a chance to recover, Naruto twirled around and slammed his forearm into the poor boy's throat, leaving him coughing and gasping.

Genma took an involuntary step backward, shocked to see someone actually winning against a Hyuuga in close combat. Normally such a thing was a death sentence.

"Sheesh, weren't you supposed to be unbeatable or something?" Naruto asked and arrogantly put away his weapon.

Neji responded by throwing a pair of shuriken at him, barely missing their mark. They proved to be enough of a distraction, however, for him to charge in and punch Naruto in the face, forgoing a crippling Gentle Fist blow for a normal punch.

Naruto recovered surprisingly quickly, just in time to block a follow-up punch and grab the other arm before the Gentle Fist blow landed. They struggled, neither able to overpower the other, even though Naruto was visibly straining to maintain the deadlock.

Genma observed how Naruto's feet were starting to slide along the ground, no more than a few millimeters at a time. With a growing sense of dread, he realised that the blond would lose this fight if he didn't gain the upper hand soon.

Just as Genma was losing hope of the younger boy's chances, he did something that could be considered his most clever and most devious move yet - he spat.

Neji cried out in shock, reflexively stepping back to wipe the saliva off his face, while unwittingly giving Naruto an opening.

"What's the matter, asshole?" Naruto asked as he punched Neji in the face again. "You're not even trying, are you?"

The boy spat again, this time at ground, and Genma noted with worry that it wasn't saliva as he had believed - but blood.

* * *

><p>"Sakura, you can open your eyes already," Ino's voice said.<p>

Sakura did as told and opened her eyes, uncrossing her fingers in the process. She hadn't thought Naruto would last this long against Neji after seeing what happened to Hinata, but not only was he winning but utterly trashing Neji.

"Never thought I'd see you so worried about Naruto. I mean, look at him! He's winning!"

"I'm more worried about Neji at this point," Sakura replied, ready to bite her nails off. "You remember what happened to Kiba, right?"

Ino snorted while turning to look at her with a reluctant smile. "Yeah, that was pretty amazing. I've never seen anyone control elements like that without hand seals or a sword like his."

"It's the sword that worries me the most," Sakura confessed, thankful that Naruto hadn't decided to use it or his weird techniques yet.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, it's not just a sword."

"Yeah, no shit! It's a sword that can transform when it needs to be carried around."

"That's not what I meant!" Sakura sighed and turned to face her one-time rival. "Remember the girl who lost against Shikamaru?"

"Oh, yeah! The one with the missing finger. What about her?"

"Naruto cut it off from ten meters away."

Ino raised an eyebrow, turning back to follow the fight. "What? How?"

"I don't know how it works - we never asked about it - but when he's not using it as a sword, he can kill people from a distance. He's done it before."

Ino gasped silently, her eyes widening slightly.

"Thankfully, he doesn't use it often. That's a good thing, don't you agree?"

"Indeed it is. Goodness, why do you think he hasn't used it yet?"

"Maybe he can only use it a limited number of times. I don't know."

"I guess we'll have wait and see."

Sakura clenched her hands into fists in her lap, hoping dearly that it would not come to that. Maybe Naruto wasn't using his strange weapon because he had challenged Neji to fight without his byakugan, removing his ability to target pressure points effectively. Maybe he wanted this to be what he considered a fair fight.

Either way, Sakura didn't like the growing sense of unease as the fight went on down below.

* * *

><p>Neji staggered backwards from a backhand to the face, feeling humiliated. How was this sick boy beating him so thoroughly? Destiny had decreed that it was he who would win!<p>

"So, about giving up," Naruto said calmly, dodging a kick coming his way. "Who was supposed to do that again?"

"Shut up!" Neji yelled, getting more and more frustrated as time passed. The only attacks that had managed to connect were normal punches or kicks; every attempt to use Gentle Fist had been dodged or blocked. Naruto, however, didn't seem to have this problem at all, successfully punching and kicking whenever he felt like it.

"Are you even trying to hit me?"

Neji managed to block a low punch aimed for his stomach. In retaliation, he headbutted the annoying blond, breaking his nose with the metal plate of his headband.

They separated, panting and glaring at each other. Blood was leaking out of Naruto's nose, but that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest; while Neji's face was already starting to bruise along with his ego.

Suddenly, Naruto pointed his left hand at Neji.

Knowing what to expect, Neji jumped aside just in time to avoid a fireball speeding his way. It was followed by a ball of compressed air that barely missed him and a ball of water that he dodged by jumping to the side. Acting quickly, Neji threw the last of his kunai at his opponent and charged.

Naruto deflected two kunai with a swing of his metal weapon and let the third one miss. He returned the weapon into its holster just as Neji got within punching distance and succeeded in blocking the first punch, but, much to Neji's delight, the following Gentle Fist strike managed to graze his shoulder when he pushed the arm aside.

A knee slammed into Neji's gut, and he bent over ever so slightly. He used this opportunity grab the arm he had crippled, making sure it would stay that way for the rest of the day.

To his shock, Naruto used the same arm to punch him in the temple, before grabbing him by his shoulders and hurling him aside. He regained his balance just in time to dodge a jump kick coming his way.

"You're awfully quiet," Naruto said as he barely missed Neji's chin with an uppercut. "Not going to tell me how I'm going to lose?"

Neji gave his answer in the form of a punch to the midriff, driving the air out of Naruto's lungs. He didn't understand why his Gentle Fist had failed to affect the irritating blond. That arm should have been useless, but Naruto seemed completely unaffected. This didn't make any sense; in fact, it was impossible.

As he punched his opponent in the chest to get some distance between them, Neji realised that he couldn't remember the last time he had been in a fight without using his byakugan. That explained why he felt like he was doing worse than ever before. It seemed he had grown too used to fighting while being able to see his opponent's chakra system, not to mention the almost three hundred and sixty degree vision. That was the only possible explanation.

Naruto blocked a backhand from the left and, before Neji could do anything else, snapped his fingers and began to glow blue. Eyes wide, Neji noted how his feet rose off the ground like gravity didn't affect him anymore.

Neji withdrew his left hand and went for a right hook, only for Naruto to grab his forearm with both hands and use it as leverage as he flipped into the air with breathless ease. As Neji pulled his arm back, Naruto, hanging upside down in midair, twisted around and slammed his heel into the side of Neji's head, sending him staggering with his ears ringing.

Naruto landed on his feet and immediately went for a side kick that hit Neji in the stomach. He pressed the tip of his boot firmly against his opponent and then spun around on his toes quickly, using his other boot to smack him across the face. He jumped off and landed just as the glow vanished.

Neji wiped off some blood from his mouth with a growl. He didn't know what the glow was or how it let Naruto defy gravity, but right now he didn't care how it worked.

His right straight was dodged, and he was kicked in the upper thigh in return. Naruto then punched him in the gut when he tried to go for a left hook and tried to follow up with a swift roundhouse kick, but Neji managed to grab the leg and trap it against his side.

Seeing his chance to finally end this, he took a few steps backwards, forcing Naruto to hop awkwardly after him.

Before Naruto could try to free himself, Neji grabbed his shoulder with his other hand, let go of his leg and slammed his open palm into his chest, right where his heart was located.

Neji allowed himself to smirk victoriously as he pushed his opponent away from him, enjoying the stunned look on his face as he staggered backwards and fell over. The Gentle Fist strike he had given was more than enough to stop his heart - not permanently, though, but just long enough.

"I told you that you could not beat me. I was fated to win no matter what," Neji said and turned around to face the proctor. "Call the match, he isn't going to get up anytime soon."

Genma nodded, sighing. He was about to raise his hand when he froze, his expression going from calm to shocked, mouth hanging open and eyes widening.

Before Neji could ask what was wrong, he felt something hard and metallic press against his right shoulder.

_Bang!_

* * *

><p>Genma was speechless, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed.<p>

No one had ever recovered from a Gentle Fist attack that fast, especially from one to the heart; it was supposed to be impossible.

A good five meters in front of him, Neji staggered forwards, yelling in agony, blood pouring from the hole in his shoulder. He was barely keeping himself standing when he slowly turned around to see who had injured him. Although Genma couldn't see his facial expression, he was pretty sure it mirrored his own - pure shock.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? Something about winning, perhaps?" Naruto asked with a mocking grin on his pale face. Curiously, he returned his weapon to its holster without a second thought, apparently seeing no more use for it.

"How...? How are you still standing?" Neji managed to ask.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, honestly confused. "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I broke my back falling over."

"That was a Gentle Fist hit to the heart!" Neji yelled, bewildered. "It should have stopped your heart."

"Well, that explains the weird tingling I feel. Huh, didn't know you could do that."

"You didn't know about Gentle Fist, yet you knew about the byakugan? How did you _not_ know?!"

Naruto shrugged like it wasn't such a big deal. "I only heard about the byakugan a few weeks ago in the passing. Something about all Hyuugas having it. Didn't even remember it until I heard your name."

Genma wondered how someone could not know about the Gentle Fist or what the byakugan was. The Hyuuga clan and their byakugan were well-known worldwide, everyone knew about them; Kumo had even tried to kidnap the clan heiress, Hinata, years ago. This level of ignorance made him wonder if Naruto was even aware how lucky he was.

"Well? You're not going to preach about how it was your fate to win today? Or maybe you figured out that it was pointless."

Neji shuddered and moved his hand away from the wound for a second, staring at the blood that stained it. "How?" he asked, groaning in pain. "How can some no-name kid like you beat me? Fate was supposed to be on my side. I should have won!"

"Hold on. Are you saying you should have won because of who you are?" Naruto asked back, amused. "Are you saying you believe your fate is predetermined and that you can't do anything about it? Is that it?"

Neji's refusal to look him in the eye was all the evidence he needed.

"Yeah, about that..."

* * *

><p>"How the hell is this possible?" Sasuke asked no one in particular. He was leaning on the handrail in the waiting area, gripping it so hard his knuckles were white.<p>

He had always known nothing was simple around Naruto, but to survive a hit that should have killed him? The same kind of hit that Neji had tried to kill Hinata with before the jounins had stepped in? Yet there he was, standing tall and proud, while Neji was barely standing at all, bleeding from the gaping hole Naruto's weapon had torn through his shoulder.

He saw Naruto reach into his left pocket and wondered what he was doing. His words were just as confusing.

"So, he's going to reveal it now," the Oto ninja, Dosu, remarked.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked and turned to face him.

"Before we were called to the arena, he asked me to read something for him."

"He still can't read?"

"Apparently." Dosu shrugged and continued his explanation. "Anyways, it was his birth certificate, and he wanted to know who his parents were."

"Who were they, then?" Shino asked, standing next to the Oto ninja with his arms crossed.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Trust me on this one."

Sasuke turned back to the fight, seeing that trying to ask further questions would have been completely pointless.

He didn't understand why Naruto had decided to ask a complete stranger for a favor instead of his own teammate. Didn't he trust his own friends? What was so important about his parents that he had to rely on foreigners for aid?

This wasn't going to be a pleasant surprise.

* * *

><p>Naruto produced his birth certificate and unfolded it, grimacing.<p>

"No-name kid, you say?" he asked, shaking his head. He wasn't sure if Neji could stay conscious long enough to read it, but what did he have to lose? "What do you say of this then?"

"W-w-what is that?" Neji managed to ask as he took a step to the side, doing his best to keep himself on his feet. His eyes were struggling to focus on the paper that was presented to him.

"Read it and then tell me who should have won from the start."

Neji stayed quiet as he read the paper, his eyes slowly widening as he did so. He tried to stutter out something, taking slow and clumsy steps backwards.

"T-this can't be real!"

Naruto felt like saying something witty to that. He probably would have if he hadn't started coughing, this time more violently than before. His lungs felt like they were on fire, his skull felt like it was about to split apart, and he realised he was coughing blood. His condition was worsening, just like he had expected.

He spat the remaining blood from his mouth to the side, praying he would last long enough to see the promise fulfilled.

"Are you alright?" the proctor asked as he made his way to their side. There was no way he hadn't noticed all the blood that had been coughed up.

"No," Naruto answered, wiping some leftover blood with his hand. "But that's not important right now, am I right, Neji?"

"You are the son of the Fourth Hokage?!" Neji almost screamed, pointing at him with a trembling finger, earning shocked gasps from the entire audience.

Naruto chuckled and shrugged. "Apparently."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this," Shino whispered, eyes wide like saucers behind the sunglasses he always wore.<p>

"The Fourth had a son?" Shikamaru asked aloud from his side, looking just about ready to start chewing on his fingernails.

The Suna team was quiet, but was unable mask its shock, with only the redhead, Gaara, remaining somewhat indifferent. The lone Oto ninja didn't show any signs of being surprised - understandably since he was the first to learn about this.

A bit to the side, on the other side of Dosu, Sasuke began to laugh a slow laugh.

"Something wrong?" Shino asked as everyone turned to stare at the boy, thinking he had gone insane from the sudden revelation.

"I just can't believe this," Sasuke said, shaking his head with one hand held against his forehead.

"Yeah, no shit!" Dosu snapped, irritated that those same words were being repeated over and over again. The others might not have been able to hear the audience above them, but he could. "No one knew your ex-Hokage had a kid. Yes, I get it!"

"That's not what I meant, although it is true, too. You see, a month ago I had a conversation with my team. During it, Naruto remarked that people thought he resembled the Fourth Hokage. We... agreed with that. Hell, I even asked him if they were related!"

"And now we find out, they really are related," Shikamaru said and nodded.

"Precisely." Sasuke chuckled a bit more, this time more bitterly than before. "But to think that we've known him for so long now, yet we never knew about this."

"Don't blame yourself," Dosu said. "Even he didn't know until today."

"A small consolation if anything."

* * *

><p>"Naruto's the son of a Hokage?" Sakura whispered, as shocked as everyone else present. Sure, she had noted the resemblance a month ago, but she hadn't thought much about it since then. After all, why would the son of the Fourth live in an orphanage without anyone knowing who he was? Surely someone would have known about him.<p>

"How come no one found out sooner?" Ino asked in disbelief. The look of shock on her face when Naruto had used his weapon to tear through Neji's shoulder was nothing compared to the one on her face now. If Sakura wasn't so worried about Naruto's coughing, she would have mimicked Ino's expression perfectly.

"Would you have believed a random, homeless orphan was related to one of Konoha's greatest heroes?"

"He's homeless?" Ino asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned towards him.

"Well, he lives _somewhere_, but otherwise yes."

"But... but how did he train out of the village if he's an orphan? Remember what Iruka said back in the academy?"

"He said he was adopted, so I guess that's why. Explains his last name, at the very least."

Sakura was glad Ino didn't feel the need to ask something else. She didn't feel like answering anything else at the moment, not when she was worrying over her teammate's well-being. Briefly, she wondered how Elder Danzo was taking the news, considering he was the closest thing to a friend Naruto had in the village.

How did he feel about all this?

* * *

><p>"Danzo, you're shaking..."<p>

"How could I be so blind?" Danzo asked himself, completely ignoring Gentaro's concerns. "All the clues were right in front of me for years!"

"Danzo, please," Nadeshiko said, trying to calm him down. "No one had an idea; you're not the only one."

"But I knew Kushina was pregnant before their untimely death. I had thought their child had died with them and I never once saw the resemblance between Naruto and Minato. The same spiky, blond hair, the same blue eyes..."

"Don't blame yourself for it."

"I'm such a fool!"

Gentaro gritted his teeth, afraid that Danzo would snap his walking stick in half with his trembling hands. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Danzo like this. In fact, he had never reacted like this to anything, not even to Naruto's disappearance years ago.

"Please, you have to calm down. Think about your blood pressure!"

* * *

><p>"Minato's son is alive," Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, mused silently. He was sitting in a private section reserved for Kages atop the centermost grandstand. A bit to his right, on a second seat, sat the Fourth Kazekage of Suna, wearing a robe and hat similar to his but with a thick veil hiding most of his face; apparently he had been in an embarrassing and unfortunate accident involving hot tea - something Hiruzen could sympathize with.<p>

"What do you think about the odds of this, Lord Hokage?" the Kazekage asked. "The son of a deceased Hokage, and yet no one knew anything about him."

"I am as surprised as you are, Lord Kazekage. Yet, now that I think about it, he takes after his father, does he not?"

"Indeed he does! The resemblance is uncanny."

* * *

><p>"Well, who do you think should have won from the start?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms.<p>

Neji stayed quiet, too weak from the blood loss and shock to form a coherent answer. His earlier bravado was long gone, beaten out of him quite literally. He thought how inevitable it was to lose against the son of the Fourth Hokage, considering he was only a member of his clan's branch house, fated to obediently serve and protect the main house.

His chances had been non-existent from the beginning.

"Neither."

Neji's eyes widened, unsure if he was having problems with his hearing. He looked at Naruto, who was going through another violent coughing fit, and waited for him to explain.

"Fate. Hmph, fate is not something that is predetermined from the moment you are born, it's something you make through your choices. It doesn't matter who you are. Look at me, for example. For the bulk of my life, I was just a pathetic, homeless kid starving on the streets. What exactly do you think my fate should have been like?"

After hearing the very first words of the speech, Neji felt the urge to tell him where he could shove his stupid preaching. He probably would have if he hadn't realised that this was most likely what everyone felt like when he started monologuing about fate.

"But-"

"If I had revealed I was related to the Fourth Hokage, would you have given up?"

Neji didn't answer.

He was starting to realise what a hypocrite he was: he always preached that fate was inescapable and that he was doomed to a life of servitude, yet it was he, a branch house member, who was here today and not Hinata, a main house member. In fact, if fate truly was inescapable, then how come he only lost because Naruto was somehow immune to Gentle Fist? Fate had nothing to do with this.

"You know, now that I think about it, you aren't technically wrong."

"What?"

Naruto offered him a grim smile. "We are born, we live and we die - end of story. Everything and everyone dies in time. _That_ is our fate, ours and everyone else's. We just have to make the most of our lives before our time comes." He turned around to leave, waiting for Genma to announce his victory.

"Wait!"

With an agitated sigh, Naruto turned back around, his bloodshot eyes narrowing.

"I acknowledge my defeat," Neji said, forcing the words out of his mouth, "but allow me one question. One question only!"

"Well, I have time to spare. Shoot."

"How did you survive the Gentle Fist hit? It's supposed to damage your internal organs and disrupt chakra flow. You should be crippled. You should not be able to stand!"

"Ahh, but that's where you are wrong!" Naruto smiled weakly. "You can't disrupt something that isn't there."

"W-w-what?!"

Naruto started coughing again and when he stopped his breathing wheezed. "I'm sure you know about chakra and how it's practically everywhere. In nature, in our bodies, and all that."

"What are you getting at?"

"What do you think would happen when you are taken away from this environment to one where chakra doesn't exist?"

"That is... not possible," Neji replied slowly.

"Oh, it is very possible!" Naruto laughed mirthlessly before continuing. "You see, with no chakra anywhere, your own chakra system starts degrading after a while. And as far as anyone knows, the process can't be reversed - there's no cure." He looked upwards at the sky, releasing a deep sigh. "I guess I should have guessed something like it would happen. Life is not fair, it's not fair in the slightest. I finally had the family I always wanted, only to be forced to say goodbyes because of where I'm from."

Still without the clear answer he was looking for, Neji activated his byakugan and felt his legs give out immediately afterwards, unable to hold him upright after what he saw. Genma rushed to his side, catching him just in time to prevent his wounded shoulder from hitting the ground.

"Ahh, so that's the byakugan," Naruto said, raising an eyebrow when he saw veins bulge around his eyes. "Eww."

"Impossible," Neji whispered, staring fearfully ahead of him. Whereas Genma and everyone else was surrounded by a faint glow of a particular color unique to them, with chakra pathways transferring chakra all around their bodies like blood vessels did with blood, Naruto could only be described as a colorless void, his chakra flow almost stagnant and only visible with squinting.

He didn't understand how Naruto remained breathing.

"What's wrong?" Genma asked, turning his head to look at Naruto who stared back.

"His chakra is... dead."

There were gasps in the audience like with the earlier revelation, though this time people were more horrified than anything else.

* * *

><p>"This can't be possible," Sasuke whispered in disbelief, gripping the handrail harder than before, aware that he was most likely irritating Dosu by repeating something that had been said many times today.<p>

This day was already turning out to be one of the worst in his life, just behind his clan's massacre. His always so mysterious teammate turned out to be the son of the Fourth Hokage and, more worryingly, was unlikely to live to see the tomorrow in his condition. Could this get any worse?

Neji's comment worried him greatly. How could someone's chakra be dead while they were still alive?

Seeking answers to the burning question, Sasuke activated his sharingan and gasped loudly. If he didn't know what he was looking at, he might have thought he was hallucinating a human sized shadow. It was a miracle Naruto was still alive with such a low amount of chakra in his body.

"What do you see, Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked, having heard his gasp.

"Honestly speaking, I'm amazed if Naruto is anything other than a walking, talking corpse."

* * *

><p>"Yeah, that's kinda what I told you," Naruto muttered as he turned to stare at the sky again. "I'm dying even as we speak." As if to drive the point in, he started coughing again, and Neji saw how his chakra flow went haywire, like it didn't know what to do.<p>

"But why?" Genma asked, moving Neji forward so he didn't need to keep leaning on him.

"Weren't you listening? This is what I get for being happy for _once_ in my life. Four years ago, I met Lightning and I begged and _begged_ for her to take me with her. She didn't want to meddle with this world any more than she already had, but in the end she gave way and took me from this village to a place where I finally had everything I could ever hope for: a loving family, a real home, friends, a _life_!"

It felt odd to see Naruto so angry. Even when he had beaten up Kiba, he hadn't been this angry, let alone raised his voice like he did now.

"But then we found out how my chakra system was reacting to the new environment, and I knew my days were numbered. Eventually I decided to come back here just to see Old Man one last time." Naruto clenched his hands into fists as he continued. "I don't care about this village one bit, I never did! I don't care who my parents were or what you think about them! I don't care about this world!" His voice kept steadily rising in volume until he practically screamed out the last sentence.

"What do you mean 'this world'?" Genma managed to ask when Naruto stopped his ranting to cough. He patted Neji in the back, signaling he wouldn't be there to be leant on from now on, and stood up to try to calm down the raging boy. To Neji's relief, he detected two medics at the entrance, ready to run to him the moment the fight was officially finished or even before if they saw fit.

"I don't belong here anymore. Gran Pulse is the world I call home nowadays, and when Lightning comes back for her promise, I can return there." He took a deep breath and glared menacingly at Genma. "And nothing will stop me..."

"Another world," Neji muttered, trying to accept such an outlandish concept. As unbelievable as it was, he realised it was the only plausible explanation for Naruto's weapon and techniques.

He deactivated his byakugan, seeing how there was no point in using it any longer, and groaned in pain when he pressed his left hand against the shoulder wound. The bleeding had stopped, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt or there wasn't a chance of infection.

"But what about your friends here? What about them?" Genma asked, still trying to get the blond to calm down. "Don't you want to say goodbye to them or something? You might still have time for that."

"There's only one person in this world that I care about, and I'm sure Old Man understands why I'm doing what I'm doing. Besides, he's better off without me around to be worried about. Everyone else can go to hell for all I care."

There was a long and tense silence, broken only by Naruto's coughing.

"I've spoken enough," he said at last. "Are you going to call the match anytime soon?"

Genma offered Neji a sidelong glance and nodded, raising his hand into the air. He didn't get to say a word before Naruto whipped his weapon out, transformed it into the sword he had beaten Kiba with and pointed the tip of the blade at Genma's throat.

"You'd better_ not_ use my father's name," he said, narrowing his eyes.

If Genma was surprised by the weapon or the reaction, he didn't show it. "Winner: Naruto Farron!"

Neji sighed deep and slumped to the ground, having a hard time keeping his eyes open any longer. The medics reached him before he even knew it and prepared to take him away.

He was thoroughly humiliated by a half dead boy, and all he wanted to do now was to sleep. He had never thought he would lose like this, his belief in fate crumbling. None of this made sense, none of this was supposed to be possible.

Maybe this was all a bad dream. It had to be, there was no other explanation for this nightmare.

Neji had lost consciousness long before the medics had finished lifting him onto a stretcher.

* * *

><p>Naruto holstered the gunblade as he walked towards the nearest wall, trying hard not to cough. His vision was already starting to blur, and breathing was becoming harder than ever before. He shouldn't have wasted his precious time telling them anything. Now, the possibility of getting to the dimensional rift seemed impossible.<p>

He activated the grav-con unit and ran up the wall. He crouched down when he reached the top and looked down at the arena. He thought about putting Neji out of his misery with a simple pull of the trigger, but he didn't trust his aim any longer nor did he see a reason to end the poor bastard's life. It was better to let him live, otherwise his lesson had been for nothing.

Suddenly, he detected a faint flash of light in his peripheral vision. He'd recognize that flash anywhere: the opening of the dimensional rift.

He turned around and saw that the flash originated from inside the village. But how? The rift was in the woods away from the village, not within its walls.

Whatever was happening, Naruto wasn't complaining. He already had an idea where he needed to go.

He turned his head around to have one last look at the arena and its audience. By chance, his eyes met with Danzo's, and he smiled weakly.

Then, he jumped.

* * *

><p>"Danzo, where are you going?" Gentaro asked.<p>

"After him," Danzo said simply, rising from his seat. "If I can only talk to him one last time..."

"But..."

Danzo rushed off, ignoring any attempt to stop him. He was gone before anyone realised what was happening.

"Where is he going?" Sakura asked Ino.

"To say goodbye," Kakashi answered, pushing his head between them from the bench behind theirs. His headband was raised, his sharingan staring at the spot Naruto had occupied a moment earlier. "I expect nothing less from him."

"Where did you come from?" Ino asked, startled by his sudden appearance.

"I've been sitting here ever since you arrived, but we should concentrate on something more pressing for now."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of him," Kakashi said, pointing at an ANBU in the grandstand next to theirs. Even from this distance, it was obvious he was glancing around furtively, as if waiting for something. "He looks very suspicious, and I have no idea who he is - and I know every ANBU in the village. I doubt he has our best interests in mind. Expect the unexpected, my dears."

* * *

><p>Genma watched as the medics took Neji away, unsure if the youth would live through the experience. The amount of blood he had lost was extremely worrying as was the wound itself. What kind of a weapon could rip a hole through someone's shoulder like it was nothing?<p>

When Naruto disappeared behind the wall, surrounded by that strange glow of his, Genma realised that he had dropped his birth certificate to the ground during one of his coughing fits. He picked it up and inspected it. It was slightly stained with blood, but could still be read without much of a problem.

"Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki," he read out loud to himself. How could anyone not realise whose child Naruto was? How did he miss it?

Genma wondered how different Naruto's life would have been if someone had realised who he was. Maybe he wouldn't have been so angry and indifferent about others if he had someone to take care of him in Konoha. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wouldn't die like this, painfully coughing his guts out because he had found his happiness in another world.

With a deep, sad sigh, Genma folded the paper and stuffed it into a pocket on his vest. He would give it to the Hokage after the finals.

He had a hard time believing any of this wasn't a dream.

* * *

><p>"Lord Hokage, should we follow him?" an ANBU asked, leaning closer to the Hokage to whisper.<p>

"No," Hiruzen answered, shaking his head. "He is doing what his heart tells him to, and there's nothing we can do to stop him. Let him go home to his new family."

"Understood, Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. _Minato, your son truly is something_, he thought, praying that his words would somehow reach Minato in the afterlife. _I'm sure you are proud of him no matter what happens_.

"Such a curious youth he is," the Kazekage noted, and Hiruzen wordlessly agreed with him. "But we have something to finish, do we not, my dear old teacher?"

Hiruzen's eyes snapped open instantly. "No..." he whispered and turned his head.

The Kazekage removed the veil from his face and revealed a grinning face that was not the Kazekage's.

"Orochimaru!?"

* * *

><p><strong>And done! Cliffhanger-y, is it not?<strong>

**Well, anyways, I'm sure everyone knows what the next and last (not including the epilogue) chapter will be titled. It shouldn't be too hard to guess. ****Hopefully I can complete it before Christmas so I can complete this story on New Year's Eve.**

**I hope not too many people are angry at me for this, but who cares :P**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: This fic was supposed to be completed on its anniversary (25.11), but real life got in the way and I had to delay many updates.**


	17. The Promise

**Merry Christmas, everybody! Back here for the last chapter (epilogue is still coming as I like to remind you)!**

**Status is now 39400 hits, 146 favorites and 136 alerts. I must say I'm surprised that people actually like what I'm doing instead of un-faving in outrage.**

**Anyways, I won't hold you back. Read on.**

* * *

><p>The PromiseThe End Of The Road

"_I knew you'd come_."

* * *

><p>Without a warning, white feathers began to fall all around the arena, causing people to fall asleep. Only experienced ninjas were quick enough to recognize what was going on and dispel the genjutsu, but were forced to defend themselves when Oto and Suna ninjas revealed themselves among the audience and attacked.<p>

An explosion of smoke filled the kage booth, and the combatants, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru, jumped to the roof to battle.

A part of the wall surrounding the village came crashing down as a giant snake slithered into the village, seeking to cause mayhem and destruction.

The invasion had begun.

Yet despite all this, there was someone who neither knew nor cared about it.

* * *

><p>Naruto staggered around the last corner, using one hand to lean on the wall. He was too tired from all the running to keep himself standing without help and fell over the second he pushed himself away from the wall. It was so hard to breath or move, but he knew he had to keep going; he couldn't give up now, not when he was so close to his destination.<p>

He pushed himself onto his feet. He took slow and unsteady steps forward and kept his eyes on the dimensional rift.

His vision had gotten so blurry he only knew where the rift was because of the bright glow it emitted, but he didn't need his eyes to know where he was: just outside the alley where he and Lightning had first met. It felt fitting to die in the place where his life had truly begun.

Naruto wondered how Old Man was feeling. Did he really understand? Was he sad or happy for him? Would he go home tonight and smile, knowing he had been there by the boy's side over the years?

Naruto opened his left pocket with trembling hands and took out Danzo's pocket watch, smiling sadly. He may have been unable to see the face of the watch and see what time it was, but its weight on his hand was comforting enough for him to forget such trivial things.

Suddenly, he started coughing again, just as violently as before, and the pocket watch fell from his hand. He tried to look for it when the coughing stopped, but his eyes couldn't see anything on the ground that even resembled the watch.

He didn't find it and stopped searching when he saw a figure walking gracefully out of the rift. The figure seemed to be wearing armor, but Naruto paid no attention to such details. His eyes widened in joy as he ran forward with the last of his strength.

"Lightning!" he yelled, jumping to his adoptive mother's waiting arms.

* * *

><p>"Naruto!" Lightning exclaimed as Naruto slammed into her. She closed her arms around him, while he pressed his head against her left shoulder, returning the embrace.<p>

Gone were the turtleneck shirt and miniskirt, replaced by a silver and gold suit of armor with thigh-high armor boots and a long sash made of white feathers over her left leg. She doubted Naruto would have asked about her new attire even if his vision was not fading fast and he had the time; to him, she had always been an angel.

"I knew you'd come," Naruto whispered. He sobbed quietly against her shoulder, no longer holding back his tears.

"I did promise," Lightning whispered back, smiling sadly. She patted Naruto on the back, trying to comfort him. It always pained her to see him cry, especially after they had found out he was slowly dying.

"It's not fair," Naruto muttered after a long silence. "Life is so unfair. I finally had the life I always wanted."

"I know."

Naruto coughed up more blood, and his breathing became more and more laborious. Each breath sounded painful to him.

"I don't want to die," he said between sobs.

"I know," Lightning whispered calmly, "but you have to let go."

"I'm scared!"

"Don't be. I'm here by your side."

Lightning thought she felt Naruto nod against her, but it was just as likely he was coughing again. It sounded like the poor boy was choking on his own blood.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you, too," Lightning responded, hugging him tighter, "my son."

Naruto's weary eyes snapped open and he smiled as wide as he could in his condition. In an instant, tears of sorrow turned into tears of joy.

Then, with one last sob, he slumped against her shoulder and stopped breathing.

* * *

><p>Wordlessly, Lightning picked up Naruto's lifeless body, a lone tear flowing down her cheek. He looked so peaceful, as if he was just taking a nap. He was smiling widely, too, like he usually did when he was sleeping.<p>

Behind her, the dimensional rift dimmed slightly, an indication it was about to close for good. It was time to leave this world behind.

She looked forward and saw Danzo run around the corner, panting. He froze immediately after realising what he was seeing. Their eyes met briefly before Lightning turned around and disappeared through the rift.

With a mighty, resounding thunderclap, it closed behind her, leaving Danzo to stand alone in the empty street.

He didn't know how much time passed as he stared at the spot the rift had occupied. His mind had gone blank, unable to accept that he had been too late to say his goodbyes. Naruto had always been like the grandchild he never had, and he hadn't been there by his side. He had let him down.

Something lying on the ground to the side caught his attention.

He picked it up and realised it was the pocket watch he had given Naruto. Why was it on the ground? There was no reason for him to throw it away since it was still working perfectly despite its age.

Slowly, it dawned to him that maybe - just maybe - Naruto had left it behind for him to find. Maybe he had wanted Danzo to have it back instead of taking it with him to his grave.

Whatever the case, Danzo let unashamed tears stream down his face as he held the watch against his chest. He turned to stare at the clear sky above him, closing his eye.

"Goodbye, Naruto. Rest in peace, my boy."

* * *

><p><strong>Only the epilogue left now.<strong>

**Yes, I'm leaving Konoha's survival ambiguous. It is not meant to be revealed whether they won or not. Lightning's armor is also not meant to be explained. Speaking of which, I was thinking about using the one from Lightning Returns (that one looks so weird, by the way; I also don't know what to think about the game itself, but I still think we don't need another sequel), but decided to just go with the one we are all familiar with.**

**We'll see one last time on New Year's Eve, so...**

**Bye!**

**Fun Fact: Originally, Lightning would have appeared over the stadium, fighting against Chaos Bahamut. That was one of the first ideas to be abandoned, because it just didn't fit in any way.**


	18. The Epilogue

**Happy New Year's Eve, people!**

**Status is 41200 hits, 153 favorites and 139 alerts. You can take off the alerts now since this story is now officially complete.**

**Thank you, everyone who has read this story. I hope you've enjoyed it.**

* * *

><p>The Epilogue<p>

"_Rest in peace, my son._"_  
><em>

* * *

><p>Lightning stabbed Flamberge into the ground and made sure it stayed upright.<p>

She was kneeling next to the grave she had dug for Naruto near New Bodhum. It was a quiet place with a beautiful view over the landscape surrounding the town; something she knew Naruto would have appreciated.

She had decided to use Flamberge as a grave marker and had jammed the switch to make sure it stayed in sword mode in case something touched it, even though wildlife rarely if ever visited this spot - part of the reason she had chosen it. She wondered if Naruto would have wanted to be buried with the gunblade instead, but she was sure he would accept her decision.

With a heavy sigh, Lightning looked at the picture Naruto had kept in his pocket. It showed the two of them standing at the end of the pier during a sunset, smiling at the camera. In the picture, Naruto was hugging her tightly, while pressing his head against her shoulder.

She smiled at the memory, remembering how enthusiastic and happy Naruto had been that day. He had even called it the greatest day of his life when Serah showed him the photo.

A sad smile on her lips, Lightning hooked a thin chain through a hole she had poked into the photo's upper corner and locked it. Then she put the chain around Flamberge's grip and made sure it would not slide down to the ground. The chain was from her necklace; she had left the pendant in the NORA House before departing.

"I'll have to get going now, Naruto," she said as she rose to her feet, "but don't worry about a thing." It felt odd to talk out loud when she was perfectly aware the dead couldn't possibly hear her, but somehow she had a feeling her words would reach him nonetheless.

"I'll come visit you when I get the chance," she said after a while. She wiped a lone tear off her cheek with the back of her hand, while giving the grave another sad smile. "I promise you that. Rest in peace, my son."

Without another word, Lightning turned around and walked away.

Unbeknownst to her, a transparent figure appeared on the grave just as she turned around, watching her depart with a wide smile on his lips.

"I'm finally home again," Naruto whispered before a sudden wind blew over his grave and he faded away.

* * *

><p><strong>The end.<strong>

**Goodbye and happy New Year!**

**Fun Fact: The reason the words "my son" were so important was to be revealed during Naruto's ranting in chapter 16, but I couldn't fit the explanation in after writing it. The reason in question? Naruto was never called that by anyone in his life, and that was all he wanted to hear from Lightning before his inevitable death.**


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